


you are my sanctuary

by itsgameover



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Minor Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Nature Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24727804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsgameover/pseuds/itsgameover
Summary: Nature, beautiful, brave, untamed, is what Jongin admires the most
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 18
Kudos: 84
Collections: Kaifectionery Round 4





	1. Untamed

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Kaifectionery Round 2020  
> Prompt: 12
> 
> First of all, wow! Writing this story has been a self-discovering journey. It's the longest piece of fanfiction I've ever written and it makes me absolutely delighted that I can share it with you! It's my magnum opus, my precious child.  
> Thank you to the mods for your kindness and sweet energy, honestly you are the best.  
> Thank you to my wonderful betas, my favourite dynamic duo, without you this fic wouldn't have been the same!  
> Thank you to the prompter, with just a few sentences you sparked an entire universe. I have so much worldbuilding left in the drafts that I may as well just turn this into a connected literary universe. 
> 
> Without further ado, hope you enjoy the fic as much I enjoyed writing it!

_ “The flowers say, “Our loveliness has no eyes to behold it!”  
_ _ The leaves murmur all day with longing,  
_ _ All night the boughs of the trees sway themselves with longing…  
_ _ O Master of the Garden,  
_ __ O my sun and rain and dew,  
__ Come quickly.”  
**\- The Garden by Helen Hoyt**

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

The dream is beautiful. A few lazy clouds pass over him, blurry white shapes in a perfect light blue canvas. If he stretches his hand he can feel the grass and the flowers move in the wind. The sun shines brightly but it doesn’t burn, it doesn’t make him sweat desperately, it’s kind, feels like fingers threading through his hair. Next to him there is someone -a man, he thinks-, but looking out of the corner of his eye, he can't quite make out the shape of his features, besides raven hair. He rises on his elbows, turns to look at the person next to him and-

“Jongin, you are distracted again”

Jongin turns his head slowly, facing the sweet eyed fairy with weary eyes, memories of his fantasies erased in seconds. Jennie sighs deeply before flapping her wings softly and making herself small, the size of a quill, flying towards him and sitting cross legged over Jongin’s knee. 

“What is wrong, little prince?” she asks, big voice for such a tiny body. Fairy magic is a mystery to Jongin “Dreaming of the wild again?” he nods softly “Ah, but your parents won’t allow you out, right?” he shakes his head no “Because last time you got lost and an entire squad of elves had to be sent to the forbidden forest to find you”

“Everyone gets lost!”

“Yes, but not everyone is caught hanging upside down from a Thief trap”

The last of his long journeys to the unknown nature had been quite eventful. Before ending in a thief trap, Jongin had managed to anger a mage enough for him to tell who’s son he was to escape a furious spell. His only companion in that journey, a chirpy man from the Woodlands, was sent to another court as a punishment for allowing Jongin to travel so far and get in so much trouble.

“I want to go out, Jen” Jongin’s eyes drop from the window to the fairy and she is smiling sadly at him.

“I know you do, sweet boy” she says, now fully sized, sitting by Jongin in the couch by the window, glowing in green like all plant-linked fairies do “But we need to finish a lesson, biology isn’t going to learn itself you know?” and with a pat on his right shoulder, Jennie returns to her big book with weared out leather covers and talks about how gods and magical folk are different and yet all the same. 

Jongin wanders out of the magical lady’s pavillion around midday, running past two old kitchen wenches who bow to him respectfully before quickly moving on with their job. One of the kings’ personal servants finds Jongin sitting in the garden, in front of the Fountain of the Dancing Triton. He asks the prince to meet his parents in the grand salon. Jongin nods, albeit hesitantly, and drags his feet across the cobbles that cover the dozen paths that connect all corners of the palace through the garden.

“Jongin!” the booming voice of his father calls out before he reaches the grand salon’s golden doors “There you are, my boy” 

The god of fire is tall and broad, strong voice and big ears, all made to listen and to command. But in spite of his rough exterior, Chanyeol is a gentle man with good intentions and soft manners, kind with all of those around him. Unlike the man who calls him husband. 

“Nini, come, it’s time for lunch” Baekhyun says, coming from behind Jongin and enveloping him in his gentle glow. 

He may be shorter than both the god of fire and his own son, but he is imposing all the same. Baekhyun was created centuries ago, so long that even himself forgets, with gentle eyes and delicate features, but he owns the attitude of a general commanding an army. He is strong and impassive, a source of strength for those around him. Everything glows around a spark.

With such personalities, that the god of light claimed the god of fire seems like a matter-of-fact. 

Baekhyun had taken residence on earth around five centuries ago, building for himself a palace on top of a mountain (“light is never placed under a table, you put it high so it illuminates everything around it”), and the more the years passed the more people came to his service. Nobles and merchants, poets and historians, all kinds of men and women became their protegees. And as many of them were either magic folk or simple mortals, petty fights occurred, the most remarkable: a musician from the court of the god of Light and a blacksmith of the court of the god of Fire, who lived just across the valley, on the Valley of the Sun. 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun where no strangers before that, the sun was created because of their alliance. But it hadn’t been until that fight happened that the gods met again and millenia of separation had nested some soft fuzzy mortal feelings for each other. 

“You’ll be my consort and you’ll love me”, Baekhyun declared. And well, Chanyeol didn’t resist much after seeing him up close, soft white hair and pinkish lips, all tender and beautiful. 

Their love made him, fire and light coming together to make a boy of golden skin, tall and imposing like his fire-y father, but as graceful as a speck of light. And despite his parents attempts at calling him “the god of aether and change”, Jongin thinks that saying he has teleportation powers is way less pretentious and easier to remember. 

And while lunch is great and his parents talk about the lands they rule over, the men and women they have seen, the magical creatures that knock their doors asking for favours, Jongin is still lost thinking about the wild, the sylvan views where no man has gone before (gods and magic folk don’t count).

“Can I go out today?” he asks his parents before they part ways after lunch. Both of them eye him up with bewildered looks. 

“No” Baekhyun rushes to say, crystal clear eyes full of fury “you know what happened last time”

“I promise to stay away from the forbidden forest, please, I need to go out” Jongin presses both hands in front of his face, pleading like peasants do when they need something. Jongin doesn’t lie, he feels growing colder and weaker the more he spends away from the nature, even Jennie notices his light dimmer. 

Chanyeol’s hand finds his consort’s one, enveloping it kindly. His eyes go soft, leaning his head to a side and smiling with a sweetness reserved for begging for one more dessert after a heavy dinner. 

“Let the boy out, he is as witty as you are”

“And as stubborn as you are” the shorter god replies, raising an eyebrow. But then his eyes meet his son’s pout and lolls his head from side to side, hopeless. “Fine” he concedes “But you have to come back before the night takes over the day”

“You could make a longer day…” the younger mumbles, fumbling with the long sleeves of his shirt. 

“Jongin” Chanyeol’s voice now declares, almost like saying ‘please, compromise’

“Fine, I’ll be here before the night comes”

“Good” Baekhyun says, standing up and pressing a kiss to his son’s temples “Be safe my boy” 

And before they can take their permission back, Jongin vanishes in a puff of greyish smoke, opening his eyes in the Green Valley, the palace only seen like a collection of colorful walls sitting on top of the mountain. He shakes a fist victoriously, jumping like a child before running towards the river that surrounds the fairies’ land, hedges surrounding mushroom settlements. He thinks he sees Chaeyoung’s pink glow intermix with Jennie’s green light, but he is not quite sure. Jongin says hi nevertheless and a chorus of voices reply happily. 

He runs like a child, giggling and waking up sleeping flowers as he does. Jongin strides along the endless green fields, rides the wind downside of a hill, picks up multicolored roses and gifts them to little girls with braided hair he meets on the road. 

No one looks at him like a weirdo, because they all know that boy with happy smiles is the son of the god who put the sun on the sky and the god who lit it on fire till the world ends. He may have dirt on his right cheekbone and ruffled black hair, but everyone around the palace knows those gods’ only child, all golden skin covered in soft silk clothes the color of aquamarines and thick leather boots that can survive all of his frolicking in the wild. 

Beyond the main lands his parents rule -the ones they can see with naked eye-, Jongin lets go of the little restraints he had up until then. He teleports freely from the top of a hill to the bottom, shakes his clothes off and jumps into the nearest river that flows freely from a waterfall. He follows a herd of sheep for one hour, helping the farmer shave their wool before sauteing away with a new sweater (it's brown and warm but perhaps a little bit short, like one of those tops Jennie uses). 

Jongdae, the leader of the fairies, finds Jongin fishing in a pond and scolds him for one of his fairies is deeply attached to that particular pond. Jongin earns himself a slap on the nape after saying ‘well, that’s dumb’.

Jongin sat under the cool shade of a sycamore tree to thread flower crowns with Jennie and other fairies. They give them to each other as presents, giggling about how well they match each other’s eye colors. Jennie presses two tiny yellow flowers to the side of Jongin’s face, right over his undercut, and they thread with his hair twitching and growing like they were attached to the ground. Sometimes he forgets she is a botanist by nature and is amazed every time she performs one of her handy nature tricks. 

Jongin wanders off afterwards, contemplating the position of the sun and calculating he has roughly two more hours of leisure time. Excellent, enough to teletransport somewhere far away and find his memory back home.

With a quick thought and a whisper, Jongin vanishes only to reappear in a forest. He raises his head, eyes meeting with trees as tall as the walls that surround the palace. An ocean of leaves flowing gently in the wind. 

The forest seems limitless, clear, and archaic. It feels ancient, like it could tell tales about times unknown to Jongin, about travelers and wandering souls. It feels alive in a way that is almost human. Its canopy was overshadowed by dogwood, juniper, and cypress. Cascading lights bounced between the leaves like gentle fingers bruising the surface of the world in golden. 

Swooping branches drooped from every tree like arms trying to touch each other, and a range of flowers, growing in a sprinkled and disorderly fashion, clashed with the greenery forest grounds.

A mishmash of beastly noises, belonging mostly to birds, reverberated through the air, and overpowered the barrage of noise coming from a waterfall in the distance. Jongin felt alive like he had never felt in such a long time. 

He had been here before, hadn’t he? He wouldn’t have been able to teleport there unless he had a memory to follow. Jongin walks in a linear path, lost in the singing voice of the birds that he sometimes see flying between tree branches (they seems to be blue, green and white, beautiful feathers gently soaring in the wind). He is not scared, has never been around nature -not even when the thief trap of the forbidden forest caught him-, but he doesn’t feel… strange. It feels as if he has been here before but in a way that doesn’t seem real, like a gentle breeze and a blur born from a dream.  _ That must be it, it’s the land of my dream. I must have followed that thought.  _

The forest is so big, so full of life. Blossoms in colors and smells, scents fighting for dominance around him. His nostrils have never been attacked like this, but it’s not unpleasant. It feels like smelling a bouquet of hundreds of flowers. There are patches of perilla growing wild in between trees and Jongin makes a point to roll in it. He is full of mirth, gleeful like a toddler, smelling of plants like the old herbalist that lived in the palace. 

When the sunlight finally falls, Jongin is resting against a tree trunk so broad that he is sure it could fit both his parents and a few witches. He closes his eyelids softly, gently brushing the earth underneath him as he vanishes. He distantly hears a voice and then, a soft comforter under his fingers. 

Jongin sighs deeply, opening his eyes to meet the familiarity of his room. He makes it back just in time for his tallest father to throw the door wide open, confirm that his son is there and scream ‘HE IS ALIVE!’ while closing the door behind him.

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

For three consecutive days, Jongin visits the same strange forest. He rolls in the little herbs that make him smell so nicely, plays with tiny animals and helps some birds that fall from their nests. He picks up peppermint leaves and brings them home along with little white flowers he threads on Chanyeol’s bright red hair. But even though everyone around him keeps pointing how happy and alive he looks since he’s been allowed to go back to the wild, Jongin feels puzzled, confused and slightly reluctant to leave every time he visits the beautiful landscape.

On the fourth day, Jongin sees someone else in the forest. 

About a head shorter than Jongin, he sports a big coat that covers up to his knees, a green shirt sticking up in the neckline, and carries a backpack big enough to fit hundreds of tiny fairies. His black leather boots seem heavy but they make little to no sound. It’s amazing, Jongin thinks as he watches the man from behind sturdy bushes. 

The man is whistling a melody Jongin doesn’t recognize but it sounds sweet like honey. He kneels in between two trees and starts to dig with what seems to be the tiny version of a shovel. A few minutes later he rises, picks a rag from his backpack and cleans something that looks like mushrooms, but with a weird shape and an even weirder color. 

Jongin makes an effort to get a closer look at the man, trying to make out the shape of the little mushrooms, but when he does he steps on a twig. The man looks back and Jongin vanishes in fear of being caught, appearing in his room and scaring to death the poor fairy that was cleaning his mess. 

Curious about the man in the forest, Jongin makes a conscious effort to come back the next day at the exact same time and tries to be in the exact same place, kneeling behind the same bushes and staring at the place where the man dug the mushroom-like things. 

But, after two hours sitting there with nothing to do but toy with the edges of his blue jacket, Jongin drops his ‘hunt’ of the mystery man and goes on with his routine of being a rapscallion with a lot of bravado (for a boy who has know the forest for less than a week).

He crosses the strange man again a few days later.

Jongin was following the sound of a bird, teleporting up and up and up, until he found a nest full of birds with brightly colored feathers, taking some feathers he found laying around that would be of no use to the little animals and putting them in his pocket, ready to make a nice little decor for his room… or a gift for his parents!

And as he teleported safely to the ground, he stepped backwards only to trip against a backpack. The strange man’s backpack specifically. Jongin recovered his stance and lowered his body to see if he had damaged the backpack or anything inside it, trying his best not to pry in belongings that weren’t his. 

After checking it superficially, and resisting the temptation of eating some very nice smelling muffins he saw, and seeing nothing was broken -or at least didn’t seem like it-, Jongin then proceeded to think a very important question: why was the backpack alone in the middle of the forest? It made no sense to abandon one’s possessions just like that! Had the man been eaten by a wild animal? Jongin doubts it, he seemed to be very knowledgeable of the place, not at all like a stranger to the nature around him. Besides, his backpack would have been torn to pieces in a situation like that. So Jongin looks around, maybe he’ll see the man coming from somewhere and could custody the backpack until it was safe in its owner's hands. But as he does so his eyes find a long ladder leaning against a sturdy tree trunk, going higher and higher into the treetops… and it shakes as if someone is coming down.

Jongin panics, he jumps on his tippy-toes like a scared child, seeing the man’s bottoms peeking out the leaves -very round and very nice bottoms, Jongin would think if he wasn’t in full mental breakdown mode-. And then, his panicked mind reacts: Jongin vanishes just as the man is looking down and he is almost sure the man saw him turn into wisps of smoke.

Jongin appears in the furthest room of the palace, near the walls that separate it from the rest of the world, where an old witch lives. Her cat familiar is not happy, falling from a shelf into a pot of warm water when the young god showed up. 

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

In the weeks that follow, Jongin keeps seeing the man. Sometimes he is picking herbs and mushrooms, collecting them in small cloth bags, other days he is fishing in a river that flows in between the sea of trees. He doesn’t know who the stranger is, but he knows one thing: his voice is beautiful.

Everytime the man works, seemingly alienating himself from the rest of the world or not caring about anything outside what he is doing, he sings and it is so beautiful. None of the songs are familiar to Jongin, who just listens and moves his head along the happy melodies or just silently nodding to the sad tunes. It’s beautiful and it’s precious and Jongin always wants to hear more of the man’s voice, but he is too scared to be found, imagining that the man will think he is some sort of stalker, so any time the man turns around, Jongin escapes to the safety of his fathers’ palace. 

Perhaps he should try to make himself visible in a casual way. Just walking around the forest, pretending not to see the man until they are closer or until the man pays attention to him. He seems harmless enough and Jongin is sure that he can literally flee any prison in existence (except a star, his mighty light of a father knows that), so Jongin is not scared of being alone in a secluded part of the forest with this man. 

He is thinking of casual ways to introduce himself as he takes a sit under the shade of a cypress, staring at some mushrooms with bulbous heads, when the heavens decide they will make the introduction themselves.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you” a strong voice booms around him and he turns around so fast that he trips and falls backwards. Before him stands the man he has seen around the forest and if at distance he was beautiful, now he is straight up gorgeous. Big eyes staring at him from underneath thick black eyebrows, plush lips barely parted, full cheeks glowing like a summer sunset. He sports brown clothes, lighter than the big coat he has seen him use most times, just a pair of pants and a shirt with rolled up sleeves, still with simple black leather boots that are definitely magical because how on earth did he not hear him come? 

The man cocks his head to one side and offers a gloved hand to Jongin. He accepts it with a shy nod, using it as a belay as he stands up. 

“Sorry, didn’t know these were yours” his voice comes out crooked and he feels childish. The casual introduction has blown itself to pieces. 

Strangers tend to freak Jongin out, straight out make him vanish in panic, but this man here looks like the rest of this forest: calm, more than what meets the eye and beautiful. Jongin drops his head bashfully. 

“They aren’t mine” the man replies, leaning slowly and taking a big lense from his backpack, examining the mushrooms “Come” he calls to Jongin who kneels by his side and notices just how different their height really is “See those blue spots? Those are poisonous. It’s a toxin, the mushrooms create it to protect themselves from deer and other small forest creatures that eat them. Only fairies can consume them safely, some even live inside their roots”

“Oh, I see. In my home some fairies live inside flowers”

“Ah, they must be very pretty fairies with bright glows, right?”

“Yes! One of my friends glows green and another one is bright blue and makes storms feel like a tender touch! They are the best!” Jongin realises just how childlike his words sounded and this man in front of him seems like an ancient being who knows the world and beyond, so he grows quiet and his cheeks heat like his fire father when the god of light mocks him “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say all that”

“No need to apologize, I like to learn” he stretches his hands once more, now in what seems to be a greeting “My name is Kyungsoo”

“I’m Jongin, I’m not from here” he explains as he shakes the offered hand. 

“I figured” the man, Kyungsoo, says shrugging “I felt different magic around here and followed it”

“Followed it? You can follow magic?” Jongin is beyond curious. 

“Only in this forest” 

“Wow, that’s amazing! I am only connected to memories,” he exclaims happily, but his smile drops down as he looks around him “which is why I don’t know why am I here.” 

“Haven’t been here before, right?” 

“Yes, I mean now have been around for a few weeks, but never before that so I don’t know how I followed a memory to here if I was never here to begin with…” he scratches the back of his neck nervously “does that make sense?”

“It does” Kyungsoo answers, staring at him with eyes that seem to shot straight into his soul “Then you must be connected to this place too. Are you a god?” Jongin nods. When Kyungsoo smiles, Jongin swears his heart stops and starts again in a minute “Then that explains it. You probably had a vision and that led you here”

“A vision?” 

“Yeah” he starts walking, gesturing Jongin to follow him, which he promptly does “some gods sometimes have visions that lead them to a place where they are needed or where they can find something they need”

“What could I possibly need?” Jongin asks, stroking his chin with one hand -a gesture he has seen Jongdae do one too many times while he thinks-.

Kyungsoo stops and picks a dozen leaves from a small bush that grows near a tiny stream of water. He saves them in a small bag and places it inside his backpack, eyeing gently at the taller man.

“That is something I cannot answer, for I am not a god nor a fortune teller” 

“Are you a human?” Kyungsoo shakes his head “Magic folk then?” once more he denies “Then what are you?”

“A demigod” he stares at Jongin for a second too long, maybe looking for a reaction and when he doesn’t seem to get it he smiles softly “You don’t seem shocked by that”

“Why would I be?” Jongin shrugs briefly, furrowing his eyebrows “Demigods are like gods but with a non magical parent. There is nothing weird about it”

Kyungsoo laughs gently, Jongin feels happy to have provoked such reaction “Well, then I am most certainly not what destiny wants you to find in this forest” 

“Why would you be what I need?”

“Some gods are too arrogant and see everyone as inferior, specially mixed beings like I am” he switches his backpack from one shoulder to the other and continues walking “But you seem to be a fairly open god”

“My parents raised me with fairies, witches and several other magical folk” Jongin shrugs “I am used to living with people different to me, it’s not strange”

“That is a nice mindset” Kyungsoo nods, the corner of his lips twitching upwards into an almost-smile.

They walk together in silence for a while and the more they walk into the forest, the more alive it seems. Despite the weeks and weeks of exploring Jongin has done, it seems like he only met the exterior parts of the forest, those closer to already claimed land rather than the inner part of the magical world of cypresses and beauty. 

They encounter a baby deer that almost jumps into Kyungsoo’s hands when he feeds the little creature. Jongin sees squirrels and sparrows in between tree branches, he hears the noises of cascading water in the distance and enjoys the sight of a quick red fox that sneaks around some bushes.

Jongin is surprised when they come across a clear and in it, a house. Well, the more appropriate word would be cabin. It has a chimney and he can see flowers blooming in a wide variety of colors around it. The environment is cute, cozy, warm, it feels welcoming like the arms of a lover after a long day.

“This is my house” Kyungsoo states walking ahead of Jongin “Would you like some tea? I have fresh pumpkin pie” 

“Yes please, I love pumpkin!”

“Then, be my guest” he opens the low white gate surrounding and Jongin feels a strong pull towards the small wooden house surrounded by gardens and what seems to be a orchard but he can only see it as Kyungsoo lights a few lamps with a torch. It’s too dark… IT’S TOO DARK. 

“Wait! No!” the panic takes over his body, scared to lose the opportunity to see this wonderful side of the world again if he doesn’t make it to his home in time “I have to go! My parents...!”

“Oh, I understand” Kyungsoo takes a look around them before continuing, putting down a hand lamp by the side of the wooden door of the house “You can come by any other day that you wish, that is if you want. I can walk you around the forest and maybe you can find what destiny wants of you”

“That sounds great! I’ll be back tomorrow!” and with a gleeful smile, Jongin vanishes, opening his eyes to see the familiarity of his room. He sighs, relieved, and lets him body go limp over his comfy bedspread, hearing the vague yelling of the shortest of his parents, claiming that they will find him and kill him for disobeying. 

_ That’s a trouble for future Jongin _ , he thinks as he falls asleep. 

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

“Please, please, let me go again” Jongin’s hands are pressed together like he has seen praying men do “I’m sorry I came back late, I lost track of time, but I came back as soon as I realized and have been helping around the palace all day to make up for my fault, please, please, please” 

He is desperate, begging like his life depended on it. He has a purpose in that forest, but he can’t tell his parents because they would insist in helping him find said purpose and Jongin wants to prove himself that he is capable of doing things on his own, even if they are self serving and lot at all aligned with the gods’ desires of his son becoming an heir of theirs in the more monarchical sense of the word.

Baekhyun is sitting in the chair at the head of the table, brows furrowed and lips tightly pressed in a line. Chanyeol is standing beside him, one hand resting above his consort’s shoulder, trying -and mostly failing- to calm down the constant growing of the lights in the room. If they get any more intense Jongin is sure they’ll all end up with burnt corneas. 

“Why?” the Light-maker says, tone of an unrelenting dictator. 

“Because I want to?” Jongin’s answer seems to be unsatisfactory for his father who crosses his arms over his chest with one eyebrow raised “I found a pretty, very pretty, forest and I want to visit it again. I heard cascading water in the distance and I want to see it fall! Please, before uncle Minseok brings winter, it will freeze then!”

“Water?” Baekhyun scoffs “There are waterfalls in our lands, Jonginnie” nickname, that is a good sign, Jongin is melting his way to his father’s heart. 

“Of course, but what if that is the most beautiful waterfall in the world” he tilts his head to the side, pouty lips and sweet eyes to make it the perfect picture of a good boy “What if I die and not see it?”

“That doesn’t make sense” Baekhyun seems almost outraged “You are a god, you don’t die young!”

“It does make sense, you are just mean to me, your son, your only son! your good loyal obedient son!”

“Obedient is disputable”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes and raises a hand to stop Jongin from talking.

“Hyunee…” Chanyeol’s voice drops two octaves, gentle hand rubbing soothing circles in Baekhyun’s shoulder

“Don’t call me that” Baekhyun chastises “I’m not giving in because of your begging”

“I’m not begging, gods don’t beg” the god of Fire smiles proudly “I plead in favour of our beautiful and smart and clever boy who came slightly later what he should have…” he raises an index finger when Baekhyun is about to speak, effectively stopping him “but! he came back without a scratch!”

“We don’t know that, I haven’t been able to check him thoroughly” Jongin freezes with the thought of his father forcing him to see the healing sages just to know if there is a minimal scar on his body. 

“Baek, he is two centuries old, he can manage” 

“Two centuries and a half!” Jongin interjects, smiling big like a toddler. Not much for aiding his cause of proclaiming to be an adult. 

“That’s right! He can go around with no trouble…” 

“Please, papa” Jongin pulls the sleeve of his father’s silk white shirt, puckering lips and all.

“Fine,” the man always concedes. No matter how hard he resists to his son’s charms, Jongin always wins -mostly thanks to Chanyeol- “but come before wolf’s hour or I’ll trap you inside a star” 

Eyes full of glee and giggling like a child, Jongin takes a mere second to disappear in a thin cloud of white smoke. He can’t hear his starlight of a father sighing, but he is sure it happened. 

Jongin jumps like a toddler and skips around the center path that leads to the pretty wooden house he saw the prior day. He hops over a puddle and notices that the entire forest is very moist. Evidently a heavy rain must have fallen over night. The leaves barely creek under his feet, everything is so pretty.

Petrichor, one of the best smells in the known universe, rises from the ground like a gentle tide in the shore. Earthy scent invades his nose and Jongin finds himself following a side path, pulled by a desire of knowing the unknown. 

“Jongin?” a gentle voice calls. He turns on his heels to find the almost-not-strange man of the forest. 

“Hello!” he replies waving his hand and smiling, excitement visible in his expression. 

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows, perched upwards and almost touching each other in the middle of his forehead, slide down over an easy smile, puckered lips turning into a heart-shaped grin that makes Jongin’s heart stop for a beat. He should get out of the palace more, it’s not normal to feel like this about a random forest stranger. 

“You came back” Kyungsoo says, cleaning his hands with a brown rag. He is wearing knee-length black boots, brown breeches and a pale shirt that exposes just a little bit of chest. His hair is gloriously styled back and his face looks earnest but kind.

Jongin has no big complicated personality. He is a silly boy who likes to do silly things and gets silly crushes very easily. But he shakes them off very easily too, so he allows his heart to sing contentedly at the beautiful sight.

“I said I would so...” he turns around in a little circle and opens his arms, as if he is exhibiting his body “...here I am!” Jongin notices the shovel a second later, laying on the side of a tree and removed dirt here and there “What are you doing?”

“Covering some holes” the shorter man says, looking around himself “The heavy rain removed a lot of dirt and left some places very dangerous for transit, let it be for me, travellers or teletransporting gods”

Jongin blushes but does his best to ignore it “Was it a lot of rain?”

“It was” Kyungsoo bends down to pick his shovel, wrapping the end in the same rag he used to clean his hands “Rained all night, stopped when the birds started singing in the morning” he turns to Jongin, starts to walk towards his home “I was scared it would be hail and my poor plants would suffer”

“Plants? Oh, you have an orchard?” Jongin’s enthusiasm is starting to flourish again, deep rooted curiosity unleashing like a beast put out of its cage. It’s the wild, he thinks, the nature that makes him feel alive more than any palace or kingdom could ever.

“I do, it’s where I get my food” Kyungsoo replies. 

"You don’t eat meat?” Jongin asks with eyebrows raised. Kyungsoo laughs. 

“I have no need for it” he shrugs with an easy smile. 

Chating with Kyungsoo is easy. He makes it easy. The conversation never staggers, is never too slow or to hard to carry, Jongin never feels overbearing or a burden. Kyungsoo pays attention to him. He hopes the man can become a friend, he is very nice and would be a shame to lose the friendship like the one he is sure Kyungsoo can offer.

When they arrive to his cottage, Kyungsoo opens his little fence and allows Jongin to walk in. Following a cobblestone path, Jongin amazes at the sight of the large garden that unfolds under the tender rays of the afternoon sun. It’s so pretty and a stream of water runs somewhere (his hearing is pretty damn near perfection and the sound of water running is one of the things he can find the quickest).

“Come in” he says, opening the door and gesturing him to walk in “It’s warmer inside than out here. Autumn will come soon”

“You think?” Jongin asks, walking inside the cozy environment. Kyungsoo nods and when the door closes behind him, Jongin makes a delighted little sound at the sight of the sweet place. 

Decorated in ocher and cream tones, a square wooden table with four chairs around it dominates the room, a wall with three beautiful framed landscapes and a fireplace in the center of the opposite wall. The room only has three walls, since one side is wide open and connects directly with the kitchen, a small room with brown furniture full of what appears to be spices and some other cooking supplies. At the bottom of the kitchen a large window rises and on its windowsill, dozens of plants -Jongin would bet on one of them being sweet basil and he is pretty sure is the thing next to it is peppermint.

The whole place smells of homemade food and it is so… homely. He inhales and exhales the scent with great pleasure. 

“Do you want some water?” he offers and Jonging nods softly. Kyungsoo takes from the kitchen a bottle full of water, pouring liquid in a glass before handing it to Jongin “Here, have some. I’ll be back in a minute, please take a seat”

And Jongin may think this is the kindest and most handsome not-a-stranger-but-yeah he has met in a long time, but Jongin is not a fool. So he smells the contents of the bottle intently for a moment, dips his finger in it and when he proves nothing burns his skin or makes his nostrils suffer in pain, he drinks it. If he starts to feel dizzy he’ll just vanish and appear half-conscious in his parents’ room. 

When Kyungsoo returns to the room, Jongin finds out that it’s possible to be the embodiment of the words “cozy and warm”. Kyungsoo is wearing a soft green wool sweater and has replaced his boots for some light brown slippers. Jongin smiles unconsciously. 

“Do you want a cup of tea?” Kyungsoo asks “I have chamomile, jasmine, peppermint, green, red, blueberry…”

“Oh, peppermint will be fine. It’s my favourite” Jongin responds, blooms like a flower in spring when Kyungsoo mutters ‘mine too’, almost inaudibly “besides, chamomile makes me sleepy and if I want to find out why this forest called me I better be well awake”

“Ah, yes, makes sense” Kyungsoo replies in between giggles. He turns his chimney on and the environment starts to heat softly as the water goes from mildly warm to boiling.

Kyungsoo serves two cups of tea and two identical slices of pie. Jongin lets the smell bless his nose, closing his eyes the way he did when he was young. Again, cozy and warm and homely. The host says something that Jongin doesn’t really hear, doesn’t catch the meaning of the sounds coming out of the man because his mind is full of thoughts like ‘could I fit the entire slice in my mouth at once?’

”Sorry, I didn’t hear you, what did you say?”

“I asked if you needed something” Kyungsoo asks, smiling softly.

“Something like what?” Jongin cocks his head to the side, eyeing him with curiosity.

“Like help finding out why you appeared in this forest at random”

“Oh, yes! Sorry” he feels silly for not remembering the whole purpose of this trip but at least Kyungsoo doesn’t look offended. In fact he laughs. It’s very cute how his nose scrunches when he laughs. His lips make his smile look like a heart. Cute!

“Well, it started a few weeks ago” 

And so Jongin tells the kind forest dweller about how he was forbidden to travel away from the palace where he was born because they found him caught in a thief trap and how it took months for his parents to allow him out of the palace. He tells Kyungsoo about the alteration to his life that the forest represented, how happy he is since he found the place, but how he also feels bummed sometimes, like he leaves something behind when he returns to his parent’s palace. 

“And I don’t understand anything anymore” Jongin says, huffing in desperation, resting his head on his right hand. His teacup is almost empty and he engulfed the pie like a starving lynx-kit (his uncle Minseok once brought one to the palace and ruined three curtains before Baekhyun vanished it to the animal quarters. Even now he call it ‘little shit’ but pets him with care, Tan is a spoiled little animal). 

“Oh, well… I can’t say that I understand either” Kyungsoo fidgets with his teacup, smiling gently at it “all I can offer you is my humble help”

“I’m very grateful for it. We are strangers, really, and in spite of it you have been nothing but kind to me. I’m very grateful for your hospitality, Kyungsoo”

Kyungsoo raises a hand and gestures to the house around them “What I have I always offer” his smile is very pretty, it feels childlike, gummy and full of genuine joy.

“A while ago” he says next, nursing his empty teacup “this forest used to be very well travelled, heavy carabins and horses would pass by every day. Then the routes changed, the gods of the roads changed their desires and this place became quieter. Back in the days the guest rooms were always busy, and this room alone was full of people, packed to the brim. It was nice, but I like silence, calm environments” he shrugs and chuckles softly ”My mother was the social one”

“Did your mother leave the earth?” Jongin’s biggest fear is the day his parents’ decide to return to their heavenly realm and establish the ruling descendance they wanted throughout Jongin and his offspring. 

“No, my mother was a mortal” he looks down again and Jongin feels bad, he really likes Kyungsoo’s eyes

“How was she?” he asks, hoping to see some light inside those big doe eyes. 

“She was a human, Yoojin was her name, she liked pumpkin pie and hot chocolate” Kyungsoo smiles but that smile never reaches his eyes and Jongin feels twice as bad as before because he upsetted his host. His parents would be so disappointed if they could see him right now. 

“Oh” Jongin replies, out of words. He is not much for comforting people outside of warm hugs and patient pats to the back and since this man is pretty much a stranger in many ways, Jongin can’t allow himself to further bother Kyungsoo and invade his personal space. He is a respectful man since he came to be in this world. 

“Come” Kyungsoo says, standing up, taking Jongin’s empty teacup and letting it rest above his countertop “I’ll show you the garden, I’m sure you will like it”

Jongin and Kyungsoo spend the afternoon walking between the neat rows of plants Kyungsoo carefully keeps in his yard. There is a neat row of vines and another one of strawberries, two apple trees, one big lemon tree, a few orange trees and a corner where four sakura trees grow gently. They roam endlessly between tall trees and low bushes, thick with life, blossoming with their unique colors.

The god gapes in awe of the beauty that surrounds him like an embrace of nature, walking side by side with a demigod who made all of this happen. They walk together towards what Jongin can only describe as the flower road, a long path bordered by beautiful flowers. Kyungsoo knows them all by name and they seem to beam when he addresses them. 

“Sunsprite, lilies, tea rose, bird of paradise, bourbon, heritage roses” Jongin kneels gently, watching up close how Kyungsoo’s fingers liven the flowers whenever he as much brushes a fingertip against their petals. It’s magical, it’s beautiful. Jongin in enamoured with the magic this man can cast and some part of him wishes he was granted that magic instead of his ability to teleport. 

When he raises to his feet, Jongin looks back. He expects to see the cottage like a small speck of colors in the distance, but instead finds it much closer than that. He can distinguish the door and the windows, the clear cut of the cobblestone path where it stops in front of the main door. It’s weird. He furrows his brows and is even more confused when he hears Kyungsoo’s laughter behind him.

“I figured you would notice. You are very observant” 

“How do you do it? I thought you weren’t a god”

“My father was. He put this garden in a pocket, a space and time pocket that is” he looks around, almost as if he was the one discovering this wonder for the first time “Gods are not the only one with handy-dandy powers” he snaps his fingers with a heart-tugging smile gracing his face “I have a connection to this forest and everything that grows in here. This is my power, keeping this patch of land alive and well, breathing, moving, growing” Kyungsoo inhales deeply, the wind messes his hair gently “My death will be its death, it is how it is since I was born” his eyes snap open and immediately lay on Jongin, gently but insistent like the flutter of a hummingbird’s wings “It’s not the power of a god, but it is the responsibility of one”

Jongin sits in the ground, marvelled and the sky above burns in crimson tones, sunset making him even more in awe of the world. Nature, beautiful, brave, untamed, is what Jongin admires the most. And perhaps he admires a little this man whose life keeps this forest standing through the seasons. 

After cruising gently in between rows of plants, Kyungsoo shows him a greenhouse, standing proudly in the further side of the never-ending garden. Kyungsoo sits down and explains one by one the herbs he keeps inside the greenhouse, the uses he has for every single one of them and even asks him if he wants to take some home. 

“I can give you a bit of my peppermint tea, special recipe, and you can make some tea to your parents to apologize for being late again” 

“Again?” Jongin looks up to the sky and when he sees that the sun has barely set he breathes, relaxed “Oh no, today I have a longer curfew” Kyungsoo raises a questioning brow “I promise I’m not being a bad son”

Kyungsoo smiles, shrugging “Who am I to judge if you are a good or bad son” he fidgets for a second, looks back at his home and roams his eyes all the way back to his shoes and the ground around them. He raises his head with can only be described as not-quite-but-almost-entirely hidden doubt in his face. “Would you like to stargaze?” he asks then, blurting it out so quickly that Jongin almost misses the words. 

“Stargaze?” Jongin cocks his head to the side, does Kyungsoo see the stars like his light-father and he do? clear and close, like white flowers in the night sky? He doubts so, but maybe… “Yeah, why not? I like stars, my father makes them with his own hands”

“You are Baekhyun’s child?” Kyungsoo asks, curious.

“Yes! How do you know him?” Jongin gets excited and nervous at the same time. The god of light always speaks strange things about his son (like that time Minseok was told the story of Jongin chasing a mage with an old broom, threatening to end her reign on magic because the woman told him to take a bath).

“I don’t, but my mother spoke about him a lot” he smiles fondly, Kyungsoo must have loved his mother a lot “He helped her carry the pregnancy when my father left her alone”

“Oh, I didn’t know that”

“Parents don’t tend to talk about past-ventures do they?”

“No, I don’t think they do”

Kyungsoo settles a big red box in the soft grass that grows next to his home, still surrounded by the small fence, but slightly away from the space-wrapped garden. Jongin sits next to him, watches him methodically assemble piece by piece a metallic object. It’s long, like his arm when its fully stretched, covered in chipped red paint with gold loops around the middle. The object has a lens on each side, a smaller one in the side Kyungsoo props against his eye and a bigger one in the opposite side. 

Jongin has never truly left his state of pure awe and joy that has overcome him since he set a foot in this strange land, the forest Kyungsoo is connected to. The magic he makes, whether is with tea and food, plants or metallic objects that let you see stars, has him bewitched like a child following a maid with pastries in her silver tray. 

It’s beautiful, it’s magical, and Jongin feels overjoyed as he watches the stars through a lens, knowing he could see them in a way different than what Kyungsoo offers him. It’s not a bad way, it’s just strange, odd but magical, like everything Kyungsoo does. Jongin smiles, this feels like happiness


	2. Brave

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Jongin spends more time in the forest than in the palace. He meets Kyungsoo in the same spot everyday and everyday they walk together towards his house, have a cup of tea and leave to explore the forest and all its beautiful sights. Jongin becomes accustomed to being a forest-caretaker apprentice, sitting by the demigod and helping him with lots of duties. They even helped a little bear who had a long thorn stuck on one of its paw (“THERE ARE BEARS HERE” Jongin screamed the first time they saw them, but Kyungsoo had just laughed and the bear licked Jongin’s face just like a dog would).

His fathers, however, can hardly complain. The young prince attends each and every single lesson he has in his daily schedule, makes small talk with every noble his parents introduce him to and helps with governance related chores (sometimes he even assists to council meetings, sitting to the right of his parents). And he is happy, everyone who knows him can say as much. Jongin is glowing, beautiful and elegant, smile like a beacon of light in the darkness. 

Jongin is still lost as to why would he need to visit the forest or why the forest would want his help, but the search of such purpose has made him happier than ever before. Kyungsoo says he smiles like a child and that makes Jongin blush, but he can’t bring himself to the deny that he does feel a child’s like glee when he is in enveloped in the beauty of nature. 

“One day you will get stuck in one of those and not even teleportation magic will save you” Kyungsoo says as Jongin sticks his head out of an abandoned fox-burrow. 

“I wanted to see if there were someone in there” Jongin skips ahead of the demigod, hopping like a bunny

“If there had been a fox, it would have clawed your eyes out” Kyungsoo counters with a concerned tone, but when Jongin looks at him, he is smiling. 

“It wouldn’t! Foxes are nice!” he has had his fair share of encounters with all kinds of animals back in his parents’ palace and out in his journeys.

“I am sure they are” there is a cocky undertone on those words and Jongin feels mocked, but in a nice way, like when a friend makes fun of you for being dumb. It doesn’t feel like an offense, it’s just friendly banter. 

“They are! One of the fairies back home can shapeshift into a fox. The cutest fox ever!” he coos at the sole memory of the fuzzy orange thing that used to curl on his lap when he was a child and let him scratch its ears.

“Ah, you have fox friends too?” Kyungsoo shakes his head in pretend disbelief “You have all kinds of weird friends, Jongin”

“Well, my weirdest friend yet is a demigod that lives in a burrow in the forest like a total hermit” 

Kyungsoo opens his eyes wide with shock, a blush covers his cheeks and his mouth is open in the shape of a little o. Jongin panics. 

Despite the weeks they have shared, none of them had branded their companionship as a friendship. It’s not strange for Jongin to think of him as a friend but for a demigod who lives in the middle of a forest that it’s crossed by pedestrians and travellers only once in a while, making friends must not be the most recurring thing. That thought crosses Jongin’s mind after he has said the words. 

Before Jongin can register the emotions crossing Kyungsoo’s face, he smiles and shakes his head from side to side, placing both hands on his hips. 

“It’s not a burrow, it’s a cottage. Read more about architecture, your highness, you are lacking that knowledge” and then no further comment is made about their friendship. Although that night, when Jongin waves goodbye like every other day, Kyungsoo doesn’t say ‘goodbye, Jongin’, instead he replies with a ‘see you tomorrow, friend’ and the brightest smile there is in existence. 

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“He made a bear stop crying when he pulled the thorn out of its paw and then he made a bush of roses bloom in seconds! Seconds, papa!” Jongin yells away all his excitement, following his light father around the garden. 

The magic of Kyungsoo’s doing is one of the thing that is most deeply engraved in the young god’s head. Used to Jennie’s tricks of making a flower grow over days, the fact that the demigod can do that in seconds has his mind blown even after nearly two months of walking around the dense forest with him.

Baekhyun has a habit of waking up early, so early that the moon sometimes is tempted to follow her maker and stay shining longer, but the god brings calm to the heavens before he strolls to the gardens of the palace. Today is the first time in years that Jongin has followed his father in this habit of his, he could barely sleep the night prior and needed desperately to chat with someone… not Jennie, Jennie is a fairy and fairies don’t have secrets with each other. Jongin won’t risk being mocked by the entire fairy realm for being excited over making a new friend. 

“You should invite your friend to the palace” Baekhyun says, as he sprinkles a rose bush with water from a hose “What was his name again?”

“Kyungsoo! He says you helped his mother give birth”

Baekhyun stops, turns around to look at his son and then smiles brightly.

“Are you telling me you became friends with that little boy?” Jongin nods enthusiastically. “Ah, life surely goes by fast. I remember the day he was born, he almost died in the process did you know?” the boy shakes his head softly, looking at his father with sheepish eyes “What a fighter he was! He struggled for air until it was given to him!” Baekhyun seems nostalgic, sitting in one of the benches in between paths of the grandiose gardens “the gods didn’t want him to be born, so they brought pain and suffering to the poor parturient woman. Such is the path of demigods, hard since they are born. But for what you say, Kyungsoo has turned out to be a sweet creature.”

The god seems to delve deep in introspection, arms crossed over his chest and staring at the horizon line as the sun rises slowly, stretching its rays like they were limbs. Jongin looks at his father, curious as to what the man is thinking. As if he was reading his mind, Baekhyun turns to him and places a hand on his shoulder. 

“You are lucky to have found him” Baekhyun squeezes Jongin’s shoulder gently “be humble always, ok? Don’t let the powers that inhabit your body overcome the kindness of your heart”

And with those words, the god of Light stands and walks away through one of the many cobblestone paths, pensively. Jongin stares at his back until he disappears behind the trees and then sighs, letting his ‘proper prince position’ fall as he slumps on his seat. 

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“What is so bad about being a demigod?” he asks his other father after lunch. 

They are seated on opposing sides of a desk, reading each a different book (Jongin chose ‘The good deeds of the Western King’ and Chanyeol has a heavy volume of ‘Journeys of Alyn the Bronze King: from the cold to the jungle’). Upon hearing his son’s question, the god of Fire stares at him with wide honey colored eyes. He frowns and runs a hand through his red hair. Chanyeol closes his book and crosses his hands over its cover.

“Nothing really,” he says, shrugging “but the gods can be very resentful. Way too many centuries ago a demigod used his powers to conquer many lands, mutilating and killing many who opposed him” Chanyeol crosses his arms, sighing deeply as he leans forward, restings his elbows on the wooden table.

“Some gods believe they are not good by nature, that they crave god-like powers and they should be eliminated before they can cause trouble” Jongin looks at his father with hard eyes and a deep frown. “Don’t look at me like that, I don’t think like them. If I did, your father would hate me. His favourite brother was a demigod, who lived by the seaside in the northern lands” Jongin remembers him vaguely, a man with long fingers who played the piano for him when he was a child.

Silence is made between them as Jongin mindlessly flicks the books pages

“Is this because of your new friend, Jongin?” Chanyeol asks, tone a bit mocking. Jongin blushes but nods softly “The boy who lives a simple life in the forest. Your father told me a bit about him, seems like a good man” the god of Fire smiles widely “I can’t believe my boy fell in love with a demigod!”

“I’m not in love, he is just a friend!” Jongin replicates before violently closing his book and leaving the room with the sound of his father’s outlandish laugh behind him.

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“You can’t pretend to let me let you go looking this messy” Kyungsoo says, it’s not a question but rather a dictamination. 

Jongin has spent the better part of their outdoor adventure frolicking with the same family of bears Kyungsoo had helped a few weeks ago. The cubs had grown, but they were still playful and harmless, so the young god rolled around in the dirt with the animals. They played and played until it was dark. Kyungsoo had spent most of the time sitting on the side, petting one of the bears that didn’t feel like playing, and reading a book about the benefits of certain plants. 

It wasn’t a coincidence that when they left the bearsidence -bear residence-, Kyungsoo’s clothing was pretty spotless (save for the brown patches around his knees and on his round bottocks) and Jongin had dirt over his entire face. He was restless and well exercised, like a child who spent a long afternoon playing roughhouse with his friends. Kyungsoo said as much as they walked together to his small cottage, laughing as Jongin blushed. 

“And what am I supposed to do, Mr Forest?” 

“Take a bath, young sir!” he says, smiling. Jongin blushes harder, the tip of Kyungsoo’s ears are beginning to look a bit pinkish “I’ll heat some water, wait here.” 

Jongin nods and steps out of his shoes, walking through the door of Kyungsoo’s house like a changed man. Bt the time Kyungsoo returns, with a soft green robe and a pair of slippers that he is ‘afraid won’t suit your feet since I’m pretty small’, Jongin has already looked around the place twice and noticed that his hands are indeed dirty like Tan’s toes when his fire-father takes it out to play in the garden. 

“This is the bathroom” Kyungsoo says, opening a dark wooden door and signaling for Jongin to enter. The room smells of flowers and steam rises from a circular bathtub in the opposite end of the room “Here, have the robe and the slippers” he adds, placing both objects on Jongin’s hands “You’ll find soap there” he points of the small stall over the bathtub “and towels there” he says, tapping a small wooden piece of furniture. “And of course, to wash your hands” Kyungsoo taps a basin and the jar full of water next to it. 

“I’ll leave you to it. I left clothes in my room. I think they will suit you” Kyungsoo smiles and turns around, heading out of the room quickly. 

“Wait!” Jongin calls out, suddenly in panic. Kyungsoo freezes in the doorway but doesn’t turn “Where is your room?”

“It’s the door in front of the bathroom” he replies -voice a bit slurred- before darting away from the bathroom. Jongin sighs deeply, but he is smiling. 

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In the palace of the god of Light and the god of Fire, there are certain rules that no one can break without receiving some sort of punishment. Jongin, as the only son of the gods, was indeed held up to high standards ever since he was brought to life. So, of course, those rules applied to him as well, especially to him. 

Little Jongin loved to ignore his fathers commands and do as he pleased, more often than not involving other palace dwellers in his schemes. One of his most notorious crimes was being a rebellious little prince, escaping the care of a nanny, playing in the gardens after a long night of rain and walking into every room he could with dirty feet. On days like that, Jongin would get a warm bath, a scowl and a scold from each of his parents and spend a week without being allowed outside of his own room.

Conscious like that of his parents no-dirt-in-our-halls politics, Jongin can’t hide the glee inside his chest as he consciously scrubs his body, removing each and every trace of dirt, cloth dragging against his skin softly. He feels like a kid who got away with mischief and received a mere slap on the wrist for it. Besides, he is in a pretty cottage in the middle of a pretty forest, feeling freer than ever before in his life. 

By the time he exits the bathroom, draped in a robe and softly drying his damp hair with a towel, Jongin feels a little more like himself (he won’t admit that being dirty is gross, that would feel like letting his parents win -especially after decades of hearing that cleanliness is the best and he refuting it adamantly-). 

He walks across the little hall into the wooden door in front of him, the one Kyungsoo said was his room, and opens it with more than a little nervousness buzzing inside his veins. The inside is pretty and prettier is the scent of pinewood that reaches his nostrils. The room can be easily described as woody, with a wooden bed and a wooden desk by a wooden window. A dark wooden wardrobe in a corner and a small wooden shelf over the desk. There is a wooden bedside table with two books over it and a big green candle next to them. For some reason all of it feels very… Kyungsoo. It’s simple but gorgeous, elegant and pleasant, cute. 

Jongin blushes and shakes away unnecessary thoughts by focusing on putting on the clothes laying in front of him in the bed. A pair of brown pants with the embroidery of tiny yellow flowers on the hems, warm brown socks, a simple white shirt and a fuzzy ocher sweater with long paws. Jongin is pretty certain that these clothes don’t belong to Kyungsoo, too long for a man who is a head shorter than him, but he won’t ask. Not his business anyways, even if he feels a little sting on his chest. 

“Oh, you are ready” Kyungsoo says he sees him walk out of the room “You look good” 

“Thank you” Jongin replies, feeling heat creep up his face. His only consolation is that Kyungsoo is blushing as well. 

“I made peppermint tea and I cleaned your boots,” he raises the pair of sturdy black boots and hands it over to Jongin with a bright smile. 

“Aw, you didn’t have to do it Kyungsoo”

“Of course I had, so you won’t have to wear anything two sizes too small for your feet” his awkward laugh afterwards is quite endearing and Jongin finds himself smiling as well.

Kyungsoo is a very unique man. He smiles around a mouthful of chocolate chip cookies and lowers his head when they make eye contact, there is a pink tinge on the tips on his ears and his black hair is messy but in the cutest of ways. They drink their tea in silence, but it doesn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable, in fact Jongin thinks this is the most at ease he has felt around someone he is not related to (Jennie aside, because he pretty much grew up with her so she doesn’t count as a non-relative). 

Kyungsoo makes hanging out with him so easy. Unlike the times Jongin hangs out with the fairies, he never feels like he is the odd one out. And the fairies are kind, they like him and try to include him as much as possible, but there is always an ultimate barrier that keeps them apart. With Kyungsoo that doesn’t exist. Not even in the subject the forest-dweller is more knowledgeable, botanics and nature, Jongin feels like he is dumb. He certainly feels like the man next to him is responsible for every beautiful piece of nature he has ever seen, but doesn’t feel inferior. 

Besides, it’s so pleasant to see Kyungsoo speak about his favourite topics. The gummy smile he wears whenever he is step-by-step explaining a recipe, how shiny his eyes get when he harvest fresh and ripe fruit from his many fruit trees, the way he can go on for hours and hours about the beauty of the forest and the properties of this herb or that root. 

Jongin sucks in a sharp breath. He is so far beyond a fleeting crush that it’s scary.

“Jongin?” Kyungsoo calls from the kitchen. He raises his head, eyebrows perked up in interest “Would you like to go upstairs? I have a decent library, probably is nothing like the one you have in your palace, but it’s my pride and joy” Jongin smiles and nods intently. 

Jongin has to be honest, at least with himself, back in his home he is not the biggest of readers. His fathers are, which is why the ever growing library of the palace holds almost three thousand books. And the library is impressive, kilometres of shelves upon shelves of neatly arranged books, separated by genre, subject, antiquity, author... and full of beautiful floating glowing lights -as a child, Jongin thought they were stars and he was so sad to discover their weren’t that his light father renamed them ‘the librarian constellation’ just to make him a little bit happier-. 

Kyungsoo’s library is gorgeous albeit modest. Like everything in his household, it’s painted in ocharine colors, decorated with interior plants decorating every available surface. Upon being questioned, Kyungsoo tells the name of each plant in the room, one by one, allowing Jongin to see them clearly in the soft golden light that comes with the sunset. 

The room is dominated by a large window with pretty cream colored curtains, a beautiful and clear view of the forest greeting the house dwellers. A small table is located against the window, an armchair on each side it and a chess board sitting on top of it, all pieces neatly arranged. 

“Do you want to play?” Kyungsoo asks, upon seeing how intently Jongin is examining the white queen. 

“I don’t know how to…” he admits in shame. He is not a big fan of boardgames, more interested in playing out in the gardens than spending his days in a monotonous interior. 

“Oh, I can teach you. It’s pretty easy” 

Turns out that was a big lie. Jongin spends hours trying to understand why the hell would the horse be able to jump over everyone else in the board and feeling his cheeks burn whenever Kyungsoo laughs at his exasperation. But Kyungsoo never loses his temper, he is calm and kind, patient, genuinely invested in teaching Jongin the ancient art of chess. By the time midnight rolls around, they have managed to play an entire game without Jongin messing up too much. He doesn’t win, of course, but he feels pretty content with his new knowledge. 

“Well played, sir” he says, voice getting distorted in the end by a big open mouthed yawn that he covers with both hands. 

“You are very tired, aren’t you?” Jongin nods shamefully, but Kyungsoo only smiles, leaning back in his chair “Well, you should head home. It’s getting late”

“But I don’t wanna! You told me we would use the telescope again tonight to see the southern constellations”

“Well, if you really want to stay for that you could take a nap” Kyungsoo stands up swiftly, leaving the chess pieces disarranged in the post-apocalyptic world born out of the white king’s defeat “Come, I’ll show you one of the guest rooms”

Jongin slumps down in a soft bed with a comforter colored in the shade of deep wine, clutches a pillow tightly to his chest as Kyungsoo turns on an oil lamp by the door. It’s dark and chilly outside, but indoors the world seems several degrees warmer, like things are whenever the god of Fire enters a room. Baekhyun always insists on his husband being like a puppy who keeps you warm in winter nights and Chanyeol always blushes madly and heats the room even more. 

Jongin thinks Kyungsoo wouldn’t have the same ability, he is linked to nature rather than fire, and most likely leans the other way, as places full of greenery tend to be colder than those deprived of it. Nevertheless, sharing a nap with him must be pretty warm, he certainly comes across a warm person and the few times they have been side by side close enough that their arms touch, Jongin has felt nothing but comfort and warmth radiating from him. 

“Ok” he says, turning around with hands resting on his hips “I’ll see you later for the telescope session”

“You are not staying?” Jongin asks, pouting like a spoiled child who is denied a chocolate.

“What?” Kyungsoo asks, cocking his head to the side, eyebrows perked upwards “Do… do you want me to….” he swallows thickly “to sleep with you?”

“If you don’t want that’s ok, I don’t want to bother you” Jongin thinks he looks uncomfortable and he feels sad for being the one to cause that awful emotion. He doesn’t think it’s a weird thing to want to nap with a friend. It feels nice to have the comfort of a friendly person next to you. 

“No, no, it’s fine. I...” Kyungsoo turns around to face the door and then faces Jongin once more “I… yes… sure, why not” closing the door with a soft thud, he walks towards the bed and sits on the edge. They stay like that for a few seconds before Jongin laughs and slips under the covers, Kyungsoo’s giggle following suit.

Jongin falls asleep quickly afterwards, breathing evenly next to a man that makes nature even more magical than it is. 

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He dreams again of the clearing. The lazy clouds floating over his head have clear shapes, as he is able to pinpoint a rabbit leaping forward and a bird with open wings. The grass underneath his hands is softer, realer. The sun still feels like a cold fire, lighting the world and giving the world it’s beautiful colors. Jongin is able to turn his head to the side, remembering the figure present in his dream the first time he dreamed it. But the features are still blurry, he can only see black hair before the dream fades and suddenly there is a dark room and an arm gently pressing around his middle. Jongin smiles…

...until he realises the light in the lamp has extinguished and wonders exactly just how many hours past his curfew he is.

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“You don’t need to explain, I understand” Chanyeol says, gently stepping away.

“No, no, I need to, I swear it’s not what you think” Jongin excuses, raising both hands.

Jongin is now standing in front of his father wearing Kyungsoo’s clothes. And he should have expected to be found considering the castle always smells saccharine and Jongin is a giant pinewood scented candle. And the Fire god is always so meticulous when it comes to smells, he is sensitive even the slightest of changes. So he followed the smell and found Jongin walking into his room, two hours before sunrise. 

He had left Kyungsoo’s house in such a hurry that he barely managed to wake him up and say his goodbyes before vanishing in thin air, appearing breathless in his home and scaring a little black dog (probably his fathers’, but in the dead of the night it wasn’t clear who the tiny figure was). He didn’t even get to properly process how he managed to end up practically cuddling and being the little spoon in the situation (he still feels the barest hints of Kyungsoo’s touch on his middle, like the feeling of a brush against a clean canvas...)

“Jongin, you are old enough. I understand. You have needs I’ll just”

“NO! DAD NO!” he approaches his father and takes his hands in his, bowing slightly. Jongin inhales and exhales, lumping against his father like a sack of potatoes “It’s not that, dad, I swear”

“It’s ok, Nini” Chanyeol rubs circles on Jongin’s back, making him straighten up slowly until they are facing each other “we can talk about it later, yes?” Jongin nods, exhausted “now let’s go to bed, otherwise your father will hear us and probably one or both of us will end up floating around the world in a star”

“Most likely both” Baekhyun’s voice sounds. Both men jump slightly and face the doorway with panic. The god of Light is standing on the other side of the open door, arms crossed and pale white hair slightly ruffled, a long grey robe covering him “I have enough power to be able to trap both of you in the same star. So you will have to deal with each other’s sins for the rest of time”

“Baek” Chanyeol starts, stepping forward “I can explain this” but Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, cocking his head slightly and Chanyeol shuts up entirely like an scolded child. Jongin just stands there, behind his tallest father, trying his best to go unnoticed. But of course, the Light god is all-seeing. 

“What is the time?” he asks to no one in particular, Jongin and the Fire god stare at each other and Jongin can see the resignation in his father’s eyes. 

“Two hours before the sunrise” the god of Fire says

“Oh, I see” Baekhyun pressing his lips on a thin line, walking in front of them like a general in front of two deserters caught in their escapade “And what time are you supposed to arrive?” 

“Four hours before sunrise” Jongin replies, voice impossibly small for him. 

“I see, I see…” the god of Light stares at him with heavy eyes, furrowed eyebrows and narrowed eyes “And you not only come home late, but come wearing someone else’s clothes and smelling like someone else” he shakes his head in disbelief, pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers and sighs deeply “Who taught you to be this messy about your romances? Couldn’t you have had the decency of bringing them home before being… nasty about it?”

“No, please, don’t think like that of me!” Jongin says, exasperated but trying to contain his emotions, not wanting to anger his father further “Father is not that, I swear.”

“Then what is it, Jongin? And explain it quickly, I don’t have the patience for long pointless ramblings”

“I went to the forest with Kyungsoo, we played with bears and I got dirty. We went to his house and he offered me a bath. I took a bath and my clothes were all dirty, so he gave me some of his own” Jongin raises his arms, showing the ocher sweater he is wearing. The Light god nods pensively “Then he taught me to play chess and we played until midnight. I wanted to stay late because we wanted to see the southern constellations so I took a nap and Kyungsoo fell asleep as well so we forgot to wake up on time and here I am” 

Baekhyun stares at them with a hand softly stroking his chin, tapping the floor lightly with his feet, soft thud of his slippers against the wooden floor. 

“Do you think that is a good explanation?” he asks Chanyeol who points at himself with his index finger before shrugging nonchalantly.

“I guess?” Jongin looks up at him with his brow furrowed and a pout gracing his lips “Yes, it is a good explanation”

Baekhyun sighs deeply “Well, then we should all go to bed before the sun comes” he raises an eyebrow but he is smiling, so Jongin allows himself to relax “but... Jongin?” the tension comes back in full force “would you mind inviting Kyungsoo for dinner tomorrow? I would love to meet him after all these years”

“No, no, I wouldn’t mind” he answers. Baekhyun smiles and approaches him, pressing a warm kiss to his right temple, before Chanyeol does the same to his left temple and walking together out of his room. 

Jongin flops unto the bed but he thinks he can’t possibly be capable of falling asleep, not with the thought of his fathers inviting home the person he is now pretty sure he has a crush on. And not with the ghost of his arm around his waist still lingering in the back of his mind, a gentle buzzing summering under his skin every time he thinks about it.

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Jongin doesn't invite Kyungsoo for dinner the day after, nor the day after that or the day after that day has passed. He visits him like he did in the past, drinks tea and play in the expanse land. Things are normal or almost normal. 

He may be a little too foolish, a little childish, but he is not naive. Jongin sees the way Kyungsoo flinches whenever they are close and he doesn't know how to stop it. He is scared he has overstayed his welcome in the forest or maybe he disrespected Kyungsoo in some way. 

But his attention is undividedly on Kyungsoo and that helps him see beyond his fears. And thus he sees it, sees that every other action, every other gesture, is entirely unaffected or if it is affected, it is in a way that makes a young god's heart flutter.

Jongin notices the forest keeper blushes violently when their eyes meet and he is ever so hesitant whenever it's time for the god to leave. Sometimes, like a cloudy night with thunder roaring wild above them, it even looks like he will ask him to stay. But then he waves and Jongin hope vanishes with him, waves of doubt washing over him as he steps into the comfort of his room. 

He hasn’t returned Kyungsoo’s sweater, clinging to the pinewood scent like a child would to a comfy blanket. And perhaps he carries a bit of worry and sadness, gloomy thoughts like clouds on his mind. Not even Jennie’s warm chatter as they walk in between the flower bushes makes him smile. Jennie furrows her brow and pinches his arm, Jongin flinching like a harmed animal. 

“What has gotten into you?” she says, angry but concerned at the same time “I’ve never seen you this sad, except when you are not allowed to visit the wildlands and as far as I know, you go out everyday”

“I’m not sad” Jongin lies and he is a terrible liar.

“Then what’s happening?” Jennie, always perceptive and persistent, rests a hand on his right shoulder, staring at him with wide green eyes full of concern “Nini, you know you can trust me, right?”

Jongin nods, pensively. He muses his thoughts as they walk side by side in the cobblestone paths of the garden. Jongin kicks the little stones in his way, thinking exactly what is that he is feeling. He can’t name the reason that causes his heart to slow its rhythm whenever he leaves the forest, but he can certainly feel that there must be something he can do to ease the burden.

“Jen?” he asks “Have you ever been in love?”

She smiles but shakes her head. 

“Oh, I see”

“But I know people who are” Jennie’s smile is bright and sweet, gummy like never before “They are so deeply in love that they made an entire kingdom to be able to love each other freely and even have offspring because of how intensely they feel”

Jongin frowns, “I don’t want to ask my parents about this, it’s too shameful”

Nevertheless, he brings it over during breakfast. Jongin merely brushes over the subject, but that sparks his parents interests. Barely mentions a strange burden on his chest and when he assures he hasn’t been feeling ill nor been exposed to any danger, his parents stare at each other, both with raised eyebrows that slide down to mischievous smiles. 

“Invite him to dinner tonight” Chanyeol insists, placing a hand on top of Jongin’s one, squeezing gently “Your father and I will be more than glad of welcoming him in our home”

“He can even stay here” Baekhyun casually says as he drinks his orange juice. He shrugs at whatever face Jongin is making “We have enough spare rooms for a guest, Nini”

That day, Jongin visits Kyungsoo way too late, seven hours after midday. Uncharacteristic, Jongin knows that, still he doesn’t think that is the reason why Kyungsoo is trying his best to suppress a smile, biting his lower lip, when they meet just outside the forest dweller's gates. It would be endearing would Jongin not be dressing like a little monarch. 

Jongin is appearing in front of Kyungsoo’s house dressed in a light blue silk robe that reaches down to his shins, with six dragons and several flowers and leaves embroidered in the fabric, and a broad white belt with golden decorations, fancy black pants underneath it and high rare-leather boots. All because of some dumb human royal tradition of implying wealth and status through clothing.

“You have to convince him of coming with you” Baekhyun has said as he prepared his son with the utmost care… and as the god of Fire laughed uproariously in the back before he was ushered away. 

“It’s ok, you can laugh” Jongin says, kicking dirty away with his boot. 

“I’m not laughing” Kyungsoo finally let himself loose, smiling broadly “I’m just… surprised”

“Because I look like a freak?”

Kyungsoo laughs, “because you look really stiff” 

And then the world paralyzes like winter’s night as Kyungsoo’s hands slither up to Jongin’s neck, softly rearranging the collar of his robe, smoothing the fabric with gentle fingers. He steps back to examine his work and places both hands on his hips, smiling proudly. Jongin feels his face burn and he can’t help but mimic the smile that Kyungsoo is wearing.

No more than a few seconds pass as they stare at each other with fond smiles, but in those fleeting moments Jongin senses something realign inside his chest, tugging at his heartstrings. Something tells him that he finally understands his parents. Finally gets it, the soft brush of their hands as they walk down the garden side by side, the long moments were they simply stare into each other’s eyes, that gentle silence, that deep understanding. Sometimes the Fire god doesn’t have to say that something bothers him, Baekhyun would catch it like a transient speck of light passing in the middle of the night. It’s affection and admiration, appreciation and care, turned into something much greater. 

Is that what love is?

Jongin is starting to fret, head full of thoughts that speak of feelings deep rooted in the wrong parcel, too much to think in such a limited space of time. So he evens his mind, follows his thoughts back to the ground and smiles, bright and unaffected. Because he is the son of the god of Fire and the god of Light. He was made to be great and great he will be, even if his dreams of greatness and the greatness his parents planned are fruits of different trees. 

The god bows deeply and rises with a neutral but still polite expression on his face. 

“Honorable Kyungsoo, demigod of the forest, the god of light and the god of fire are more than pleased to invite you to a private dinner in their summer palace…” Jongin cocks his head to the left, closing one eye and thinking “It’s also the winter palace, autumn and spring palace too. The all-seasons palace should be called, but that is not the matter at hand, right?” he giggles, nervous. 

Kyungsoo’s laugh, on the other hand, is unaffable and charming in its natural beauty. 

"Jongin, are you inviting me to a dinner at your parents' house?" he asks, raising an eyebrows with his hands still resting on his hips.

"Yes" Jongin’s words are merely a whisper, not trusting his voice to be stable if he were to speak louder "What do you say?"

"Sure, why not?" Kyungsoo is nonchalant but still so likeable "Just let me get ready” he says, brushing the dust off his clothes with his palms, looking at his appearance with a wry smile “I have to find something that's appropriate to visit a god. I don't know if I have that kind of clothing, but ..."

"No need" Jongin takes his hand and smiles broadly "Come on now, my parents have enough spare clothing"

"Jongin no-" but before he can finish his complaint, the god and the demigod are standing before the golden door of the Palace of Light and Fire, because the gods are always original when it comes to naming things.

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“Jongin” a familiar voice calls as they step through the threshold of the palace’s doors. 

The god looks up to see his parents walking from the other side of the room, dressed in elegant but simple robes (white with silver details for the god of Light and red with golden details for the god of Fire, because of course they are original like that). Jongin smiles broadly, happy to see his parents, but Kyungsoo goes stiff next to him as the figure of the god of light and his spouse appear before him. He bows deeply and Jongin softly pats his back. 

“Soo, that’s not necessary” he says and while the demigod nods, he still looks rather uncomfortable. He doesn’t even notice Jongin calling him a nickname instead of his full name. 

“Kyungsoo, the protector of the forest” Baekhyun steps forward, meeting the man with eyes full of kindness “How much you’ve grown. Last time I saw your face you were smaller than a puppy and look how big you are” he places a hand on top of Kyungsoo’s left shoulder and smiles “I am Baekhyun, your mother and I were good friends” 

“Oh, hello” Kyungsoo says, stiff and nervous and Jongin is on the edge of panicking like there is no tomorrow. Why is he so uncomfortable? What did Jongin do wrong?

“And I’m Chanyeol, a pleasure to meet you, young demigod” and he, being who he is, goes for a hug, pressing Kyungsoo against his broad chest like he would do with Jongin. 

Kyungsoo sighs as he is released from that embrace and looks to the ground, eyes focused on his own feet. His hands lay on his thighs, softly fisting the material. And Jongin remembers the people around them are wearing elegant outfits and he still looks like a gardener.

“Father” he says, stepping towards Baekhyun, “Kyungsoo needs more comfortable clothes, don’t you think?”

“Oh, of course” the god smiles, turning to the two servants that followed them to the room “Sooyoung, Taeyong” he calls and the two servants step forward, bowing slightly in front of the god “Prepare a warm bathroom and a clean room” and when they leave, Baekhyun approaches Kyungsoo with a charm and a glow only seen in a sky full of stars “Come with me, Kyungsoo, I want to ask about your mother. How did she spend her last years?”

And the pair of them walk away, not without Kyungsoo looking over his shoulder and Jongin directing a brief thumbs up at him, smile disappearing when the demigod does.

“I did something wrong” he says to his father. Chanyeol looks down at him with a quirked eyebrow “He is mad, dad. He was so uncomfortable, I feel so bad”

“Calm down, my child” the god smiles, thooty and familiar in a way that gives some sort of security to Jongin’s childish fears deeply nested inside his heart “I felt uncomfortable too when I met your father’s half-brother. It’s normal, it’s bound to happen” 

“What does that have to do with this?” Jongin is the one with the confused expression now, staring at his father like there must be something wrong with him.

Chanyeol laughs briefly and passes an arm over his son’s shoulders, gently pushing him towards the dining room with him.

“Romance, courtship and love are concepts neither your father or me have taught you and that, my son, is our biggest mistake in centuries of existence”

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	3. Beautiful

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The thing with palaces and royalty is that Kyungsoo doesn’t get any of it. He had been raised in a forest, taught to sow and reap, to take care of houseplants and crops. He had a dog as a child who kept him company as he listened to his mother’s long hours of teachings about botany and nature. It was all he learnt, all he saw since he was a babe in arms. 

If he had learnt how to read and write was because his mother thought that no man, demigod or otherwise, should be left without the power to learn on its own. So the woman fed him knowledge of plants and herbs and sciences from larger cities and about the way the stars are placed in the sky by a kind but stern god who has a habit of doting the brightest souls with constellations to their name when they pass. Even today Kyungsoo looks up to the sky and finds comfort in the swan shape of the Yoojin constellation.

With that in mind, Kyungsoo stares at the place surrounding him, the expensive curtains and elegant tapestry lining the walls, the beautiful silk and velvet of the clothes they have presented him with, and feels a strange sadness creep up his throat. His home is made of wood and stone, his furniture is good but simple, scarce decorations in his living spaces save for books and plants. This place, the shine and the bright of the rooms, the glory of satin and velvet, the paintings and the expensive tablecloth, this is all Jongin’s world. A man like Kyungsoo would never be able to fit in there. And that thought alone sets like a heavy weight on his shoulders. 

“Oh, you look very handsome” the female servant says, Sooyoung he thinks the god of Light called her “This shade of green suits you well” she adds, circling him. Sooyoung takes Kyungsoo’s hand and puts a bracelet on his wrist. Upon seeing Kyungsoo’s face, the girl giggles “Our lord Baekhyun sent it for you. It’s a small jade stone on simple silver” she shrugs “It’s not a particularly expensive jewel, considering what the lords own, but I think it’s very pretty and it suits you”

He doesn’t give her a reply, so the girl simply smiles and gets to work on his hair, styling it upwards and back, making him feel slightly exposed, used to his hair covering his forehead. The small silver mirror in front of him doesn’t make him feel any less strange, the figure in the reflection doesn’t even look like him. 

Kyungsoo doesn’t feel handsome, with a long silk robe and boots that don’t seem pretty practical, and he doesn’t think that a jewel of any type suits him. There is a sour feeling that tells him Jongin won’t be a part of his life after tonight is over. And that is a sad feeling. 

“What a view!” Baekhyun’s voice says, walking into the room with a bright boxy smile “Young man, you look very handsome” 

“Thank you” he replies, feeling as stiff as Jongin looked back in the forest. 

“Come, let’s meet my husband and my son in the dining hall” Baekhyun urges, interlinking his arm with Kyungsoo’s as they exit the room.

They walk in silence, an uncomfortable one, nothing like the moments of quiet he and Jongin have had. This is a silence that makes him feel like he is seconds away from stepping on the wrong place, falling hopelessly into an abyss. It is a scary thing to walk on the edge of a cliff, but to walk next to the god of Light is even more terrifying, as he always feels like there is one more shoe to drop. 

When they arrive to a big door with golden and red patterns carved on dark wood, the god stops and turns to face the demigod. Feeling as the victim of some exhaustive scrutiny, Kyungsoo lowers his eyes but the god clicks his tongue and Kyungsoo is forced to look up. And where he expected some sort of disappointment or reprimand, he only finds gentleness and a fond smile.

“You know what the beautiful thing about light is?” Baekhyun asks, sounding almost indifferent. Kyungsoo shakes his head in answer and the god smiles “Nothing can hide from it” and his hands pat Kyungsoo’s shoulders, a touch that is rather soothing “And you cannot hide the worry you carry”

“I don’t know what you-”

“I do” Baekhyun interrupts, raising a hand to stop his words and like any believer would in the face of a deity, Kyungsoo steps back and lowers his head “You met my son because he felt like you do now. This clothes do not suit you, that’s what you think, right?” interpellated like this, he has no choice but to tell the truth. So he nods and gentle fingers rise his head by the chin.

“There is no shame in that… even if from where I am standing you look rather handsome, young man” Kyungsoo blushes and the god laughs, before letting go of his chin and sighing deeply “My son, my Nini, he is wild and he is more suited for the world outside our walls. I know that and as much as it pains me to see him away, it hurts me more to see him suffer” he crosses his arms over his chest, shaking his head softly, ever the picture of a worried parent “You are not a father, but the burden one carries when your child is sad is heavier than any weight in the world”

"My Nini… he is a free spirit, a soul made for nature. Otherwise, why would have he been granted by existence his gift? Teleportation is unique and rare, even between powerful gods and goddesses" there is melancholy and perhaps even sorrow running underneath his words. Kyungsoo never thought he would feel pity for a god.

Baekhyun sighs and Kyungsoo stares at him with curiosity, seeing a god suffer is not something one witnesses every day. For some reason, seeing Jongin struggle in the forest doesn’t come across as seeing a god, even though he very much is. Jongin feels familiar, comfortable, as if they have known each other for centuries instead of months. But months are enough, Kyungsoo tells himself, for feeling more than mere superficially about someone

“Kyungsoo” the voice of the god of Light calls “Be earnest and honest with me. Do you like him? Do you like my Jongin?” Kyungsoo nods, albeit bashfully “Like him more than a friend would?” Kyungsoo nods again “Good, then let’s go in, food will get cold and I don’t want my husband to burn another table in an attempt to reheat chicken”

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

Dinner flies by in a blur, the gods making everything in their power to make Kyungsoo feel comfortable. And he is grateful for that, but he is especially grateful for the anecdotes the parents tell about their son. Jongin looks so sheepish and coy, blushing and bowing his head, but he smiles warmly and that is truly precious. 

“Do you remember, Yeol?” the god of Light asks, softly nudging his spouse’s arm “Nini was so small back then, he couldn’t control his powers and sometimes he would just appear in random places his mind remembered. Once he appeared in the fairies’ homes. You can imagine the havoc a baby causes in between thousands of flower buds”

Chanyeol’s laugh is uproarious and contagious. Soon enough Kyungsoo laughs along the divine family and he feels… comfortable, mostly because he can sense Jongin’s eyes on him and the way his smile reaches up to his eyes and they turn into crescent moon. It makes sense that his father is the god of Light, he shines like the brightest of moons. 

“Kyungsoo, your cup is empty” Chanyeol points out and one of the servants, Taeyong, Kyungsoo remembers, approaches him and pours wine on his empty glass. Kyungsoo smiles at him and thanks him with a small bow, the eldest gods coo at him and Jongin rolls his eyes but smiles anyways “Ah, that’s better! Drink, drink, it’s the best wine of the land, you won’t regret it” the god winks at him and Kyungsoo suddenly remembers just how powerful a god’s aura is. Why does he never feel like that when Jongin is around? 

He sure feels small next to Jongin, he is taller and broader and certainly more divine, but it doesn’t crush him, not in the overwhelming kind of way anyways. And Jongin is always making him feel comfortable and happy. Jongin is a happy beam that lights up any place he is in. The forest has never been so lively and lovely before, Jongin’s giggles and excitement that put-off Kyungsoo in the beginning now sounding like the sweetest of sounds.

He admits it, to himself and to whoever may ask, that he can’t imagine a world without Jongin’s laugh in it. And that it’s a scary yet beautiful feeling. 

Kyungsoo drinks enough wine to feel a little bit braver than normal, enough to let him share small anecdotes of his own, to mention his mother and blush whenever the god of Light smiles coyly at his words. He shares a few of the forest adventures lived with Jongin and the young god groans and calls him ‘a dramatic creature’ for saying that Jongin put his life at risk jumping to the waterfall. 

“Jongin it was a 15 meters fall” Kyungsoo points out, taking yet another sip of delicious red wine.

“And I can teleport, it was fine, Soo!” Jongin blurts out, smiling foolishly. 

“Soo huh?” Kyungsoo says, raising an eyebrow. Jongin blushes red like a tomato and he laughs at that display of shiness. 

Baekhyun scoffs and Chanyeol suddenly animates like a puppet whose strings have been tugged. 

“Oh, yes! My darling, it’s time for bed!” the god of Fire announces, standing up and directing a smile to both Jongin and Kyungsoo 

“Stay as much as you like” Baekhyun says, placing a hand on Kyungsoo’s right shoulder and smiling down at him. He then raises his head and looks at his son. “Good night, Nini” he adds.

Kyungsoo can’t see his expression, but by the outraged look in Jongin’s cherry-colored face it must be pretty incredible. 

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

“Uh...”

For the first time in forever, Jongin is at a loss for words. He, the ever chatting machine, the chat overlord, worthy son of both his mouth-running-a-mile-a-minute fathers, is now stuck in ‘not knowing what to say’ land. For the first time since he has known Kyungsoo, he also feels… uncomfortable and he doesn’t like that one bit. 

Kyungsoo is Kyungsoo, a source of comfort and kindness, a kind soul and a good man. He always smells of peppermint and coffee, of petrichor and rosebuds, of new beginnings and safe havens. And Jongin is so immensely fond of him. Because Kyungsoo is indulgent of Jongin, yes, letting him ruin his routines by squeezing Jongin’s whims in a day to day basis, letting him get away with things no one else would. 

But it’s more than that, oh so much more than that. Jongin is attached to Kyungsoo in a way that has never happened to him before. Not even with Jennie, his most dear friend, or his uncle Minseok, who is always a source of knowledge and advise with all his wintery words, or that handsome elf named Taemin who was his first kiss! Jongin knows he can’t go a day without seeing his friend without feeling his heart squeeze in pain.

The acceptance of his true feelings is buried deep down yet slowly but surely is rising afloat in the middle of the debris caused by the collapse of the temple of his hesitation and self-consciousness

“Do you want to go out?” he asks then, “Our gardens are the pride and joy of this palace” Kyungsoo smiles and nods.

Calling Kyungsoo a friend feels strange as well. Because he hasn’t spent a moment of dinner with his eyes away from Kyungsoo, especially staring at his lips, plush and plump and like his own but totally different. And it made him dream, head full of fleeting fantasies, but not one of them contemplated this very moment when, in his haste to drag Kyungsoo through the cobblestone paths, their hands met and held each other tightly. 

He stares at their interlocked hands for a brief moment as they reach the Triton fountain. Jongin’s cheeks must be on the edge of exploding with how much he has been blushing through the night. 

“It’s getting cold” Kyungsoo says, autumn at full development in the palace gardens. Jongin notices, even in the dim moonlight, that the tip of Kyungsoo’s ears are red.

“It is” Jongin replies, strengthening his hold on Kyungsoo’s hand when he doesn’t pull away “I never saw yellow leaves in the forest”

“It’s because I’m alive and healthy” he shrugs as they walk side by side, hands clasped together “If I get sick the forest becomes what the rest of the world is on autumn”

“Then I hope the forest is green forever!” Jongin exclaims, smiling widely.

Kyungsoo giggles “Ah, I fear that may not happen. One day I’ll die and that day the forest will begin its decay”

It’s not a happy ending, Jongin thinks, but he supposes sometimes endings are not meant to be happy. Unless… “Can’t you pass the mantle to someone? So when you leave there is already someone else who’s life protects the forest”

“I could, if I had children” Kyungsoo rises his eyes to the sky, eyeing the stars with a gentle smile “But I suspect my current emotions won’t drive me towards that end”

“Oh, is that so? Why, Kyungsoo?” Jongin’s mouth runs ahead of his brain, so he doesn’t have the chance to stop his careless words.

“Well, I think there are no children where my heart is headed” he looks down at him with a tender expression painted over his features.

“Oh” Jongin is a walking and breathing burning tomato, his cheeks must be on fire by now “My parents had children” he adds, sparing his brain from thinking about the implications of Kyungsoo’s words… or over analyzing said words and finding shadows where only light lives. 

“Jongin they are gods” Kyungsoo points out, smiling. 

“Exactly! You are a demigod! Bet you could make a kid too with those awesome plant growing powers” Jongin is giggling as he extends his non-touching-Kyungsoo arm in a dramatic show.

“I highly doubt it” Kyungsoo says and both lose themselves to the laughter that bubbles between them like a summer breeze. When the laughs die down, Kyungsoo eyes Jongin with a soft look in his big doe eyes “Jongin” his voice sounds two octaves lower than usual. Jongin’s name has never sounded sweeter nor as beautiful “You can call me Soo if you would like. I don’t mind it”

“Really?” a nod and a smile “Then you can call me Nini”

“Seems appropriate to me, Nini” the demigod replies.

“Excellent then, Soo” the god says, his heart singing like a bird in spring. 

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

Autumn leaves have all long vanished, the gardens in which the god of Light so dearly spends time are grey and look a little sad. Winter has come and the god of Light is as sad as his trees are. 

“I despise winter so much” he says, frowning and pursing his lips into a thin line. The god is sitting on the head of a small white table in one of the many pavilions that decorate the gardens, named ‘the pavilion of the ducks’ as it is located in front of a duck pond, except that all ducks have already left the palace, searching for a warmer land 

“The sun is up for mere hours before vanishing again” Baekhyun sighs dramatically, resting his chin on his right hand “So little light in the world is frankly sad, I feel like a cursed creature in these conditions”

Jongin looks at Kyungsoo, sitting across him, and rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless. 

After his initial visit, Jongin has managed to coax Kyungsoo out of his forestal retreat enough times that the servants of the palace already know him by name (although the ever respectful humans call him ‘Lord Kyungsoo’ and the demigod blushes violently). 

For a change, Kyungsoo is wearing his own clothes, not the ones he had used back in his home, where temperatures are always somewhat like autumn even if the surroundings always look like spring. Rather than soft cotton clothes or light sweaters, Kyungsoo sports thick wool and sheepskin, fur lining his clothes, and warm mittens to prevent his fingers from becoming ice-sticks. 

Baekhyun had laughed when he saw him walking into the garden and apologized for the absence of his spouse -busy with the duties that he and his consort interchange day in and day out-, who could have warmed him up with just a pat on his cheek. Jongin had to explain Kyungsoo that that was the reason Baekhyun wore spring clothes, he had been with Chanyeol for so many centuries that cold is not a burden he carries. Jongin, on the other hand, is cold, terribly cold, so he wears mittens and a scarf and his fathers laugh at his misery. 

“We should find out if there is a god or goddess of heat and pair them up with you. That way you wouldn’t freeze every winter!” Baekhyun says, smiling down at his son. Jongin doesn’t acknowledge his words with more than a roll of his eyes and a huff. “Arguably, my friend Seulgi is the goddess of pleasure, she does bring some heat” the god of Light says, lifting his eyebrows to accentuate the suggestive nature of his comment. 

Jongin feels an unnatural fury seeping through his veins. 

“I don’t care about Seulgi, why would I care about her?” he snaps in half the little cookie in his hand and drops it to the plate, resting both hands on the table and furrowing his brows “She has her princess Joohyun and that stupid kingdom of hers, I don’t care about Seulgi or what she can do with her powers”

Two pairs of wide open eyes stare at him, making his fuming subsede into a mere simmering of anger. Something deep inside his chest tells him he is both acting childish and making a fool of himself in front of Kyungsoo. 

“Calm down, furious tundra cat, you don’t need to panic so much” Baekhyun pats his hand gently, even if there is snark in his voice “It was a mere joke, Nini. Seulgi is very happy with the queen-to-be” the god turns his attention away from his son then, smiling broadly at his guest “Did you know, Kyungsoo, that Chanyeol’s brother is the god of Winter?” Kyungsoo shakes his head no in lieu of an answer “Ah, it’s a funny story how those two were created you’ll see-”

The god of Light entertains Kyungsoo with several anecdotes and eventually invites him to visit the palace’s library. When Jongin looks at Kyungsoo, those big doe eyes at staring at him as if they were asking permission. Jongin nods, working out a sympathetic smile as his father and the forest dweller leave together, leaving Jongin alone in his very own corner of shame, questioning his irrational behaviour. 

Why does he feel so anxious, so angry, about the sole suggestion that he may find pleasure in someone? Wasn’t he the one who used to envy Princess Joohyun for being loved by such a beautiful goddess? Seulgi is beautiful, with those mysterious black eyes and alluring voice. Yet no matter how hard he tries, Jongin can’t picture himself feeling the slightest bit of affection, much less desire, for the goddess. 

All those thoughts, however, have carved a path in the grass of his heart, and following their course always ends in the heart shaped smile of Kyungsoo. 

Jongin smiles. He loves to see Kyungsoo laugh, open heartedly, freely, untethered like a bird with no cage, like those colorful little birds that fly from branch to branch in the warmth of spring. Jongin feels, for the first time in forever, like his heart is in perpetual spring. 

And that would be beautiful weren’t Jongin a coward who has been looking at Kyungsoo with heart-shaped-eyes (in the words of his fire father) and doing nothing about that. Baekhyun tells him that is fine, rubs circles on his back and kisses his forehead, mimicking the early days of his life when Jongin’s tantrums ended in a puddle of tears. 

The god of Light is patient, but he is also insistent, had to be. Light always pushes away the darkness, if given half a crack to slither through it will. So he looks at his son in the eyes, smiles gently, but tells him to not shy away from what he feels, to voice his thoughts before darkness swallows them.

Why does his father love to use darkness and light as metaphors for literally anything and everything? Gods have no originality. 

Jongin is insistent too and quick, and also can vanish in thin air and reappear in the centre of the library quicker than it takes to say “Jongin stop being a coward”. Much quicker than that. 

Hanging over him are thousand little lights, the usual illumination for the library, as his father deems ‘unnecessary and dangerous’ to allow Chanyeol to use his fire to light the huge space full of scrolls and books older than their son. The lights are almost alive, they feel alive when they gently float around you, following you as you find the book you are looking for. They shy away from the god of Fire though, favouring their maker. So Jongin looks up and follows the little cluster of lights that float gently like a tiny cloud. 

“Father?” he calls, turning into the little hall of books. 

“Ah, Nini, you came” the god says, and he is… alone? Jongin panics.

“Father where did Kyungsoo go?”

“I am here” the familiar deep voice sounds from behind him, Jongin turns sharply, jumping just a little. He smiles, wide and sweet “What happened?” Kyungsoo asks and there is something inside the god’s chest that preens when Kyungsoo smiles back at him.

“Nothing, I wanted to see you” the man in front of him smiles wider, if that is even possible. In times likes this, Jongin thinks his heart will fly out of his chest. After all, he is immortal but not invulnerable. 

“You are seeing me” 

“Ah, I forgot to water my lilies!” Baekhyun says, slamming his book shut and placing it in its place in the shelf. He smiles at the two boys and walks away without further talk. 

Jongin can hear the thrumming of his heart inside his chest as he speaks “Soo, I need to tell you something very important”

“I’m listening” he answers, brow furrowed in concentration. 

“It’s very, very important” Jongin raises his hands “Mind you, the most important thing I have ever said”

“Right…” Kyungsoo’s left eyebrow raises. 

“Just so you know, ok? It’s very important for me”

“Ok”

“If you don’t reciprocate it’s perfectly fine, I’ll understand, I won’t mind” 

“Jongin” Kyungsoo wraps his hands around Jongin’s panicky arms, a pressure that feels a lot like reassurance “What do you want to say?” his voice, as always, brings calm to Jongin’s confusion. Gentle wind through a vast meadow. 

“Soo” the man nods, smiling softly “I like you”

“Ok” Kyungsoo’s hand runs up and down Jongin’s arms “I like you too”

“You do?” Jongin freezes, stares into the eyes of the beautiful, amazing demigod that’s smiling at him, and he swears his heart stops for a moment. 

“If you mean it as a declaration of affection beyond friendship, then I do” Kyungsoo is blushing, he is blushing! It’s not unusual, nor the first time Jongin has seen him blush, but for some divine reason this feels like heaven. 

“You are the best person ever” Jongin delves forward, launching himself to the arms of the person he adores, hearing the sweet sound of Kyungsoo’s laugh.

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

His life doesn’t change dramatically. Jongin still takes breakfast with his parents, enjoying their chatting and asking questions about the daily duties that busy them, he still visits the fairies and takes his usual classes. Jongin keeps on with his routine of taking a morning bath and then trading palace rumors with Taeyong, Sooyoung and other members of the service. Some mornings he gets to help the witches take care of illnesses and wounds of workers and knights and they very much appreciate having him talk to them through the pain of sutures and other treatments. 

But life takes a different glow in the afternoons, when he departures from his parents with a bright smile only to smile twice as big when he opens his eyes in front of the forest cottage, jumping happily to the open arms of Kyungsoo, who more often than not has to drop a rake or a seedling if he is in the garden, or a spoon if he is caught in the kitchen in the middle of attempting to bake a new cake recipe. 

The afternoons are the best part of any day. The teas by the window and the walks through the forest, the games of chess and the long naps in soft feather mattress because Jongin doesn’t need a pillow as long as Kyungsoo’s chest remains warm and comfy. Kyungsoo radiates warmth and everything around him shines ten times more when he is around. He is not even a god and yet his powers marvel Jongin all the same, for growing a patch of tulips in a day is a remarkable feat for a boy who sees wonders in everything Kyungsoo does. 

Everything is magical when Jongin is with Kyungsoo. Magical… and sometimes awkward and downright terrifying, because Jongin can’t stop his eyes from darting away from Kyungsoo’s very expressive eyes to the curve of his plump lips and how they move whenever he speaks. Sometimes he even forgets to pay attention to his words and he blushes in shame. But that wouldn't be as bad if in those moments all the thoughts inside his head wouldn't be of how would Kyungsoo’s lips taste if they kissed.

It terrifies Jongin. When he tells Sooyoung about it she just laughs about it. 

“Oh, my little lord” she says, smiling like an understanding mother, even if she is only twenty two summers old “You are scared, but it’s ok. If he likes you then I’m sure he won’t reject you if you ask him to kiss you”

“I guess…” he answers, but the thought never leaves his mind.

It is especially hard for him to think about anything other than Kyungsoo’s lips when he wakes up to the feeling of them pressed against his forehead. It’s nothing more than accident, assumption based on the fact that when Jongin looks up he sees Kyungsoo’s eyes shut tight, but still feels so much more intimate that what it should be. It ignites a want inside Jongin’s chest that he never knew he had, a desire to hold him close and never let go. 

Perhaps that’s what the god of Fire means when he says that he has never wanted anyone more than Baekhyun and Jongin sticks his tongue out in mock disgusting, always thinking he speaks of physical want. But it makes more sense like this, after all you can want someone physically without the ache of distance. For Jongin, distance is the greatest pain, for living without Kyungsoo would be the greatest agony for his divine heart (it has been since they became friends, but Jongin is both stubborn and a god, which is basically a permission to be foolish and bullheaded).

How would it feel to be wanted that way is all that he thinks about as they lay side by side in the grass behind Kyungsoo’s wooden house, hands locked, eyes locked on the skies, full moon shining gloriously over them. He knows Kyungsoo likes him, his words and actions say as much. But he is childish in so many ways, one of them being the inability to take the bull by its horns and ask what Kyungsoo feels exactly. ‘ _ You will never know the answers to your questions if you are not brave enough to ask _ ’ Baekhyun had said once and those words refuse to leave Jongin’s mind. 

For a brief moment Jongin catches a glimpse of a face in the surface of the moon and he smiles, a knowing thing inside his chest telling him that face is there to bring him bravery. A falling star crosses the sky and Jongin tightens his hold on Kyungsoo’s hand as he sits up, staring at the satellite with wide open eyes. 

“Soo, did you see that?” he asks, marvelled “Woah, so beautiful” 

“So beautiful” Kyungsoo repeats, voice low and gentle. Jongin turns to look at the demigod and his eyes are half closed, focused on him rather than the sky. Jongin feels that those words were aimed at him and his blood boils. 

A long silence comes afterwards, Jongin’s palms are sweaty but he can’t bring himself to let go of Kyungsoo’s hand, clinging to his with so much care. The right corner of his lips turn upwards, a smirk that tugs Jongin’s heartstrings, a loop that spirals away from his own heart and into the heart of his loved one. Love, he has never uttered that word, and yet he feels it, so immensely. It’s beautiful. 

“Jongin” Kyungsoo says, big earnest eyes looking deep into Jongin’s very soul“Can I kiss you?” he asks, voice ever so soft, cracking at the end. Jongin’s heart skips a beat, then stops altogether and is quickly replaced by a rabbit’s heart, a big hare’s heart that just won't calm down.

For a moment he is scared to say something. What if his voice doesn’t come out, what if he means to say one thing and his tongue says another? Jongin panics, yet his mind is overridden by some otherworldly identity that makes him nod softly but surely.

Kyungsoo sits then, letting go of Jongin’s hand to press it against his shoulder and slowly moving upwards until it’s cupping his jaw, thumb caressing his cheekbones. They stare at each other in silence, a spell falling over them to keep them away from the burdens and worries of the world. For a moment, only they exist, safe and sound, secluded from the universe. They are one and the same with Kyungsoo’s beautiful garden, a sanctuary in the midst of a forest. Jongin feels emboldened and dives forward, soft plush lips pressed against his, a little chapped but perfect, so perfect.

That night Jongin learns how Kyungsoo’s lips taste like: peppermint, green tea and warm, sweet love. 

They kiss until both are breathless, blissfully so, smiling to each other like little kids who got away with some sort of mischief. It’s the cutest and most amazing thing Jongin has experienced in all his life, surrounded by trees and beautiful flowers, skin warm where Kyungsoo has touched it, the moon glow gently caressing their faces. 

Kyungsoo looks up to the sky and does what he always does at that time: take Jongin indoors and make tea for two. Jongin smiles into his cup, blushing every time he catches Kyungsoo looking at him. 

They kiss some more after that, always giggling and it always feels like a novelty, like each and every kiss is a new mystery to be discovered, a gift to be unwrapped. It’s marvelous and it takes them days and days before Jongin realizes he really takes notice how nice it is to be loved even if neither of them have said those words. 

Warm and willing bodies, young souls in centuries old bodies that won’t decay, it all feels beautiful and tastes wonderfully. Jongin loves to spend hours and hours on end in Kyungsoo’s arms. He also loves to test the boundaries, how far can he go in his incessant childish teasing before Kyungsoo snaps and takes him in his arms, kissing him fiercely and making him feel full and loved, so so so so so loved. 

“I love you” Jongin says, tongue loose after feeling the way it felt to be pressed between a sturdy wall and Kyungsoo’s warm body (it felt like heaven).

“I love you too” Kyungsoo answers, immediately, no hesitation, no pause, and then he kisses Jongin again.

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

Each and every night, Kyungsoo walks Jongin to the edge of his garden and waves him goodbye. But this time when they reach the fence, Kyungsoo grabs Jongin’s hand tightly. 

“Stay the night” he says and even it sounds like a demand, Jongin understands he has a choice to make. 

He has to leave, to come back home and sleep so in the morning he can perform the chores a mortal prince would have. He has his parents and probably will face a big reprimand for not coming back as he should. He has a duty… and yet, he can’t bring himself to care that much. 

When has duty stopped him from doing what he wanted? He always ran away, seeking to breathe free in nature, surrounded by new paths and adventures to be lived, new journeys to be experienced. 

Isn't this exactly what he wanted? Nature-Kyungsoo, beautiful, brave, untamed. The feeling of wondrous adventure that comes with the wild, wild world. Kyungsoo with his daily chores in a forest that always seems to grow and expand each and every day. To follow Kyungsoo has been one of the greatest adventures of his life, for his heart has grown ten times it size and nothing ever has felt as good as kissing him does.

That night, as he sleeps in the arms of his lover (“can I call you boyfriend?” “of course you can, Nini”), covered in a light blanket, surrounded by the pinewood scent that clings to every surface of Kyungsoo’s room, Jongin thinks that he doesn’t want to return to the palace ever again. This is home.

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

“Are you sure?” Baekhyun’s words are careful, kind, they don’t have their usual edge, if feels like a question that he wants a genuine, unfiltered answer to. He needs to know. His hands refuse to let go of his son’s. 

Chanyeol is standing on the edge of the garden, turning his back to the pair of gods. Jongin knows he is crying, can sense it from the way he refuses to look at them. He had heard his words first, his more emotional nature driving Jongin speak to him first, seeking some reassurance but he was meet with a tight hug and a ‘talk about it with your father’.

The rise in temperatures has brought back the flowers and the ducks are swimming calmly in the pond. The spring wind blows gently underneath the trees, the pavillion is covered in cherry blossoms. 

“Yes” Jongin answers, because he has never been more sure about something in his life. 

“Oh, my sweet Nini” Baekhyun gently places a lock of Jongin’s hair behind his ear. It has grown wildly since last year, now he has a mop of dark hair long enough to tie it in a top knot.

“I am not going to die” he says, cocking his head to the side as he smiles “It’s just…”

“The greatest choice of your life” Chanyeol interjects, voice clearly affected. He clears his throat and turns around, Jongin sees the way the apple of his throat rises and falls.

“And I’m sure of it” he looks back at Baekhyun “and he asked you! Both of you!”

“He is right” the god of Light says and for once Jongin has Baekhyun by his side, trying to convince the god of Fire to let him get away with what he wants. 

“I haven’t deemed his offering as appropriate” Chanyeol crosses his arms over his chest, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. 

“Chanyeol, you ate all the food he gave us.” Baekhyun complains, but he is smiling “Barely left me a piece of pumpkin pie” 

“Still”

“Dad” Jongin pleads, softly and gently, but not like a child. In this he needs the will of a man, of a god, a real one. He knows what he wants and he knows that what he wants is good for him. “You know I don’t really need your permission, right? I have always asked for I love you both greatly and I have always valued your opinion as my parents” Jongin approaches his father with a warm smile “Please say yes, so I can do what I want without feeling guilt”

Chanyeol has always been a little on the rough side of the scale, too uncouth and he doesn’t even notice it. But Chanyeol is crying so Jongin can’t bring himself to complain about how his hug makes Jongin’s bones pop like bath bubbles. 

“We have this pavilion and other hundred or so” the god says, wiping his tears with a handkerchief that Baekhyun hands him “You can celebrate it here”

Jongin smiles and walks away from them, skipping the two steps down the stairs of the pavillion, running wildly until his body crashes against Kyungsoo, welcoming him with open arms and waiting like a penitent believer. 

“Is that a yes?” Kyungsoo asks, breathless. 

“Of course it is a yes, Soo” he kisses Kyungsoo’s nose, “I” his right cheek “told you” his left cheek “so”and then his lips, a brief peck “Come on, love, let’s marry before they regret offering the palace for the celebration”

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

Jongin dreams again, of course he does. Jongin’s nights have always been filled with dreams. Once he dreamed he was a dragon, soaring high above the clouds, seeing the world and all its wonders. Another time he was running through an endless field of tulips of a thousand colors and two little birds followed his steps. At the very end of his steps the rain came and the birds parted ways as Jongin found a burrow to spend the storm in. 

Now his dreams aren’t as wild. He mostly dreams of passing clouds and chasing little animals through a forest. He dreams of the cottage and he dreams of peppermint tea. Sometimes he dreams about running away but behind him is always the palace and ahead of him the silhouette of tall familiar trees. 

He also dreams of his siblings, those who their fathers brought to life after Jongin left the palace for good. Jongin thinks he hasn’t met before creatures as mischievous yet likable as his little siblings, Sehun and Seunghee. They fill the palace with laughter and joy, and Jongin’s dreams sometimes become nightmares with the sound of their screams so imprinted on his memories. 

Most times, however, he comes back to a pretty and old dream. The meadow and the clouds, the grass underneath his fingertips. But there isn't a single raindrop of urgency or worry in him. The world is bright and beautiful, and there is a hand holding his, a hand that feels like home. And when he turns to look at his side Jongin finally understands that he did have a vision that led him to the forest. More than a vision it was a premonition, a sight into the future.

As he lays in the forest he can see the shape of the clouds and the warm sun, but not too warm, and the green grass, and how everything in the world is perfect the way it is. Kyungsoo is laying by his side and Jongin gets it, this was meant to happen since the very beginning, since he chased a memory that didn't feel his and ended up in a strange forest, magical in ways that no divine powers could shape it. 

🌹🌱❀❀❀❀❀🌼❁💮❁🌼❀❀❀❀❀🌱🌹

  
  


_ “Do not fear.  
_ _ The garden is yours  
_ __ And it is yours to gather the fruits  
__ And every flower of every kind”  
\-  **The Garden by Helen Hoyt**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated <3  
> 


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